BOONE, N.C. – Gardner-Webb men's and women's track and field opened its indoor season over the weekend, posting 16 top five finishes along with several new PR at the Appalachian Open in Boone, N.C.
 
The men's team placed third overall, while the women's squad took home a fourth place finish.
 
Diviana Forrest took home a first-place result in the women's 400-meter dash, timing in at a personal best 58.65 seconds.  Hannah Sparacio placed seventh with a time of 1:02.78.  Kelsey Houser placed 14^th at 1:05.95.
 
Chase Thornhill earned the men's 400-meter dash title, clocking in at 49.37 seconds.  Casey Armour finished in sixth place at 52.17 seconds, while Austin Buzzard earned a tenth-place finish with a time of 53.88 seconds.
 
Petra Jakeljic finished second in the women's weight throw with a toss of 16.87 meters.  Cailen Blaire placed eighth with a distance of 14.46 meters.  Arleasia McGee placed 11th with a mark of 13.42 meters, and Taliyah Wade placed 17th with a mark of 12.83 meters.
 
Julian Smallwood earned a second place finish in the men's shot put with a toss of 15.37 meters.  Nate Wonsley placed fifth at 13.72 meters, and Kenny VanVorst finished in 14^th with a mark of 11.89 meters.
 
In the men's 4x300-meter relay, the team of Carlos Williams, Chase Thornhill, Austin Buzzard, and Casey Armour took home a second place finish, timing in at 2:26.43.
 
Carlos Williams placed third overall in the men's 55-meter dash, timing in at 6.49 seconds to set a new personal record.  Mason Marshall timed in at 6.78 seconds to take home a 15^th place result, setting a new PR.
 
Patrick Sastre paced GWU runners in the men's one-mile run, clocking in at 4:48.41 to place third overall.  Ezekiel Martin finished fourth with a time of 4:50.84, while Mitchell Brown placed seventh at 4:59.60, followed by Sam Hermanns in eighth at 5:28.41.
 
Courtney Kanetzke finished in third place in the women's 3,000-meter run, timing in at 13:03.32.
 
The team of Diviana Forrest, Taylor Hotchkiss, Hannah Sparacio, and Kelsey Houser placed third in the women's 4x300-meter relay, timing in at 2:58.55.
 
In the women's long jump, Taylor Hotchkiss took home a fourth place finish with a jump of 5.35 meters, tying her previous best mark..  Callie Rhea placed 19^th at 4.49 meters, setting a new PR.
 
Bogdan Podgaisky earned a fourth place finish in the men's 3,000-meter run, clocking in at 11:20.51.
 
Karin Sastre placed fifth in the women's pole vault with a mark of 3.36 meters.  Louise Schmidtgen placed ninth at 2.91 meters.
 
Austin Evans took home a fifth place finish in the men's 55-meter hurdles, timing in at 8.20 seconds, while Austin Buzzard placed ninth overall with a time of 8.40 seconds.
 
In the women's 55-meter hurdles, Taylor Hotchkiss earned a fifth-place finish at 8.72 seconds, while Khalilah Conway clocked in at 8.92 seconds to finish seventh overall.   Callie Rhea placed tenth at 9.19 seconds, and Alexis Fonville finished 15^th at 9.70 seconds.
 
Khalilah Conway finished seventh overall in the women's high jump with a mark of 1.50 metes.
 
Nathaniel Sayles placed seventh in the men's 800-meter run, timing in at 2:25.58.
 
In the women's one-mile run, Hannah Jones finished in eighth place with a time of 5:45.15, a new personal best time.  Amy Turlington took home a tenth-place result, clocking in at 5:47.77, followed by Sandra Bolstad in 11^th at 5:49.33
 
In the men's weight throw, Kenny VanVorst finished tenth overall with a mark of 13.31 meters.  Julian Smallwood earned a 12th place result at 13.01 meters.  Nate Wonsley finished 16th with a toss of 12.36 meters.
 
Taliyah Wade placed tenth in the women's shot put with a mark of 11.40 meters.  Cailen Blaire finished 21^st at 10.24 meters, followed by Arleasia McGee in 22^nd at 10.18 meters.  Callie Rhea placed 28th overall at 8.94 meters, setting a new PR.
 
In the men's long jump, Austin Evans placed 12th with a mark of 6.03 meters.
 
In the women's 55-meter dash, Kira Ramsey clocked in at 7.63 meters to finish in 17^th place.  Maya Mallory placed 20^th with a time of 7.79 seconds, setting a new PR.
 
Wofford was both the men's and women's overall winner.
 
Gardner-Webb returns to action on Friday, January 18 at the Keydet Invitational, hosted by VMI in Lexington, Va.