KENNESAW, Ga. – The Gardner-Webb men's and women's outdoor track and field teams combined to set 15 new personal records while claiming 14 top-five finishes at the 2019 Don McGarey Invitational, hosted by Kennesaw State University.
 
Natasha Akbarizadeh took home the women's hammer throw title with a mark of 60.96 meters.  Petra Jakeljic finished fourth with a distance of 51.48 meters.  Cailen Blaire finished seventh at 47.28 meters, while Arleasia McGee finished 14^th at 34.81 meters.
 
In the men's 200-meter dash, Chase Thornhill finished second overall, clocking in with a personal-best time of 21.34 seconds, which ranks second all-time in school history.
 
Louise Schmidtgen finished third in the women's pole vault with a mark of 3.45 meters.
 
Patrck Sastre earned a third-place result in the men's 800-meter run, timing in at 1:53.22 to set a new personal record, and moving up to third in the GWU all-time ranks.  Ezekiel Martin placed eighth with a personal-best time of 2:02.62, and Sam Hermanns finished 13^th with a time of 2:04.71, setting a new PR.
 
Julian Smallwood finished third overall in the men's shot put with a personal-best mark of 16.57 meters, ranking fourth in program history.  Nate Wonsley IV placed fifth with a toss of 14.97 meters.
 
In the men's 4x400-meter relay, the team of Carlos Williams, Austin Buzzard, Patrick Sastre, and Chase Thornhill finished third with a time of 3:21.60.  The grouping of Ezekiel Martin, Sam Hermanns, Mitchell Brown, and Bogdan Podgaisky finished in fifth, timing in at 3:33.74.
 
The women's 4x400-meter relay team of Diviana Forrest, Hannah Sparacio, Khalilah Conway, and Hannah Jones earned a third-place result, clocking in at 4:04.13.
 
Ezekiel Martin brought home a third-place result in the men's 3,000-meter steeplechase, timing in at 10:37.99.
 
Diviana Forrest took home a fourth-place finish in the women's 200-meter dash, clocking in at 24.58 seconds to set a new PR which ranks as the second-fastest time in the event in program history.  Kira Ramsey placed 26^th with a time of 26.38 seconds, Maya Mallory finished 31st at 28.10 seconds, and Kelsey Houser finished 32^nd at 28.62 seconds, a new PR.
 
Cailen Blaire finished fifth in the women's discus throw with a mark of 35.45 meters.
 
In the men's 400-meter hurdles, Austin Buzzard timed in at a personal-best 56.76 seconds to take home a fifth-place finish with a time that ranks sixth in program history.
 
Kenny VanVorst finished fifth in the men's hammer throw with a mark of 50.34 meters.
 
The team of Mason Marshall, Carlos Williams, Tre Carson, and Chase Thornhill finished fifth in the men's 4x100-meter relay, clocking in at 41.26 seconds.
 
Austin Evans finished in sixth in the men's triple jump with a distance of 13.81 meters, setting a new personal record that sits at sixth place in program history.
 
In the women's 4x100-meter relay, the team of Kira Ramsey, Maya Mallory, Hannah Sparacio, and Diviana Forrest timed in at 49.01 seconds, finishing seventh.
 
Hannah Jones placed eighth in the women's 1,500-meter run, timing in at a personal best 5:03.84, closely followed by Sandra Bolstad in ninth at 5:06.83.  Logan McGuirt finished 15^th at a personal-best 5:35.17, while Courtney Kanetzke finished 16^th with a time of 5:41.78, setting a new PR.
 
In the women's 400-meter hurdles, Khalilah Conway finished in eighth place, timing in at 1:06.17.  Hannah Sparacio finished 11^th overall at 1:06.92.
 
Carlos Williams finished ninth in the men's 100-meter dash, timing in at 10.78 seconds.  Tre Carson placed 14^th, clocking in at 11.00 seconds to set a new PR that ranks ninth in program history, while Mason Marshall finished 17^th with a time of 11.13 seconds, a new PR.
 
In the women's 400-meter dash, Hannah Jones finished ninth overall with a time of 1:01.57 to set a new personal record.
 
Amy Turlington finished ninth in the women's 800-meter run, crossing the line at 2:23.02.  Faith Parandhamia finished 12^th at 2:32.36.
 
In the women's shot put, Arleasia McGee finished 11^th with a distance of 11.23 meters.
 
Mitchell Brown finished 14^th in the men's 1,500-meter run, clocking in at 4:25.91.  Bogdan Podgaisky finished 16^th overall with a time of 4:53.95.
 
Gardner-Webb now prepares for the 2019 Big South Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championships, taking place in Rock Hill, S.C., beginning on May 8 and lasting through May 10.