LYNCHBURG, Va. – The Gardner-Webb men's and women's indoor track and field teams each earned sixth place finishes at the 2018 Big South Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships, held at the Liberty Indoor Track Complex on the campus of Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va.
 
The Runnin' Bulldogs took home two event championships throughout the weekend, as well as three All-Conference performances.
 
Throughout the event, both team's set a total of 28 new personal records.
 
Jordan Smith claimed the men's weight throw title, setting a new personal record in the process with a mark of 20.33 meters.  That also ranks as the second-best mark in Gardner-Webb history.  Ross Lucia took home a fourth-place finish with a distance of 16.76 meters, setting a new PR with the seventh-best mark in GWU history.
 
Smith also took home the men's shot put title with a toss of 17.21 meters, which was 0.57 meters further than the second place finisher, Ryan Spiecha from Charleston Southern.   Lucia placed sixth in the event at 14.34 meters.
 
Smith was named the men's Outstanding Field Performer for his efforts, while Carlos Willams and Natasha Akbarizadeh each were named to the All-Academic teams.
 
Sarah Mitchell also earned All-Conference honors in the women's shot put with a second place finish with a toss of 14.38 meters.
 
Mitchell finished seventh in the women's weight throw with a mark of 16.86 meters.  Petra Jakeljic led the team, placing fifth with a throw of 17.19 meters, followed by Natasha Akbarizadeh in sixth with a toss of 16.89 meters.  Cailen Blaire placed eleventh at 15.25 meters.
 
In the men's 400-meter dash finals, Chase Thornhill set a new personal record with a time of 49.05 seconds, placing fourth.  He qualified for Saturday's finals with a then-PR of 49.47 seconds during Friday's preliminaries.  His time today ranks as the fourth-best time in the event in Gardner-Webb history.
 
Carlos Williams placed fifth in the men's 60-meter dash finals, clocking in at 7.05 seconds.  In the preliminaries on Friday, he timed in at 7.03 seconds.  Mason Marshall set a new PR in the prelims with a time of 7.21 seconds, and Austin Billiot tied his personal-best time of 7.27 seconds.
 
Williams also placed seventh in the men's 200-meter dash finals with a time of 22.26 seconds.  That was just shy of the time he set in Friday's prelims, where he clocked win with a time of 22.25 seconds, setting a new personal record and ranking third all-time in GWU history for the event.  Marshall and Billiot also set PRs in the prelims at 23.36 and 23.88 seconds respectively.
 
In the women's pole vault, Sarah Coleman and Karin Sastre finished fifth and sixth respectively, each at 3.50 meters.  Coleman matched her PR, which ranks as the eighth-best result in the event in school history.
 
Taylor Hotchkiss placed fifth in the women's long jump with a distance of 5.34 meters, setting a new personal record that ranks eighth in GWU history.  Ashleigh Cleveland took home a ninth-place finish with a mark of 5.03 meters.
 
Cleveland also placed eleventh in the women's high jump with a mark of 1.43 meters.
 
Austin Evans and Ralph Jolly finished seventh and eighth respectively in the men's 60-meter hurdles finals, timing in at 8.86 seconds and 9.15 seconds.  Both set PRs during Friday's preliminaries to qualify for Saturday's finals, as Evans timed in at 8.66 seconds, the sixth-best time in GWU history, and Jolly had a time of 9.05 seconds.
 
Evans also set a new personal record in the men's long jump on Friday with a mark of 6.32 meters, placing fourteenth.
 
Amy Turlington finished in eighth in the women's 800-meter run with a result of 2:25.09.  She set a new personal best time in the event during Friday's prelims, clocking in at 2:22.71.  Hannah Jones and Valerie Walker finished ninth and thirteenth respectively, each setting new PRs with times of 2:23.99 and 2:51.31.
 
Hannah Sparacio earned an eleventh place finish in the women's 400-meter dash, timing in with a personal best time of 1:00.99.
 
In the women's 60-meter dash prelims on Friday, Kira Ramsey clocked in at 8.10 seconds to finish fourteenth, setting a new personal best time, as well as the tenth-best result in the event in school history.  Maya Mallory finished eighteenth with a time of 8.45 seconds.
 
Mallory set a new PR in the women's 200-meter dash prelims on Friday, clocking in at 27.78 seconds for a fifteenth place finish.  Ramsey just edged her out at the line, timing in at 27.25 to finish fourteenth.
 
Ezekiel Martin clocked in at 4:39.88 in the men's one-mile run, placing fifteenth and setting a new personal best time.
 
In Friday's men's 800-meter run prelims, Sam Hermanns and Bogdan Podgaisky each set new personal-best times of 2:13.94 and 2:18.94 respectively.  Patrick Sastre finished ninth with a time of 1:57 .81 to lead the team, followed by Josh Parks at 1:59.20, placing twelfth.
 
 
Keaton Poole led the Runnin' Bulldogs in the men's 3,000-meter run, clocking in at 9:24.50.  Mitchell Brown followed at 9:35.42.
 
Brown led the team in Friday's men's 5,000-meter run, clocking in at 16:12.94, the eighth-fastest time in the event in school history.  Poole followed with a time of 16:19.22.
 
In the women's one-mile run, Jenika Hrushka finished twelfth, crossing the line at 5:32.84.
 
Gabby Cortese led the team in the women's 5,000-meter run on Friday, clocking in at 18:55.80 to finish in fifteenth place.  Sydney Davis and Logan McGuirt clocked in at 20:30.32 and 21:16.15 respectively, earning eighteenth and nineteenth place finishes.
 
Taylor Hotchkiss led GWU in the women's pentathlon, earning 2,935 points, which was highlighted by a PR in the long jump at 5.35 meters, the eighth furthest mark in the event in GWU history.  Ashleigh Cleveland finished seventh with 2,920 points, and Amanda Hall finished in tenth with a career-best 2,739 points to earn the tenth-best result in GWU history, while also setting PRs in the high jump at 1.40 meters and the shot put at 10.20 meters.  Callie Rhea earned 1,644 points for an eleventh place finish in her first time competing in a pentathlon, setting a new PR in the long jump with a distance of 4.36 meters.
 
The women's 4x400 medley relay team of Hannah Sparacio, Diviana Forrest, Taylor Hotchkiss, and Ashleigh Cleveland timed in at 4:06.30 to finish in seventh place.
 
The team of Jenika Hrushka, Diviana Forrest, Hannah Jones, and Gabby Cortese placed eighth in the women's 4,000-meter distance medley relay on Friday with a time of 12:55.57, the seventh-fastest time in the event in GWU history.
 
In the men's 4x400-meter relay, the team of Chase Thornhill, Carlos Williams, Patrick Sastre, and Caleb Silvey earned a fifth-place finish with a time of 3:23.68.
 
Friday, in the men's 4,000-meter distance medley relay, the grouping of Ezekiel Martin, Caleb Silvey, Patrick Sastre, and Josh Parks timed in at 11:03.32, finishing in sixth place.
 
Liberty won both the men's and women's championships, each earning 224 team points.