Seven Personal Records Fall for Gardner-Webb at USC Open

Saturday, April 17

Columbia, SC

Gardner-Webb University

USC Open

Photo by: © Tim Cowie | GWUPhotos.com

April 17, 2021 | Track & Field

Columbia, S.C. – The Gardner-Webb men's and women's track and field teams competed with the USC Open on Sunday afternoon, which was highlighted by seven personal bests and several new top 10 program records.

In the men's 400-meter dash, Chase Thornhill placed seventh with a time of 47.52 seconds at the finish.

Joe Waller ran a personal best in the men's 800 meter by clocking in a time of 2:04.52.

Placing ninth in the women's 800-meter, Hannah Mitchell dropped two tenths of a second with a finishing time of 2:18.24, which marks a personal best for her.

In the women's 1,500-meter, Faith Parandhamaia finished with a time of 5:03.97 which marks a new personal best for her. Camille Sykes also ran a personal best in the event with a time of 5:20.20.

As for the women's 3,000-meter, Jennifer Escalera finished the race with a new personal best time of 12:01.41.

Jaden Finch placed fifth in the women's discus throw by throwing a total distance of 43.64 meters, which marks a personal best and an all-time top three program record for her.

Josh Fischer finished 14^th in the men's discus throw by hitting a mark of 42.99 meters, which is a personal best for Fischer.

In the women's hammer throw, Petra Jakeljic placed fourth overall by hitting a mark of 55.28 meters.

Kenny VanVorst placed sixth for the Runnin' Bulldogs in the men's hammer throw by throwing a distance of 56.73 meters.

Julian Smallwood placed fourth for Gardner-Webb in the men's shot put by reaching a mark of 16.96 meters. Teammate Josh Fischer followed in sixth by hitting a mark of 16.43 meters, which is a personal best and a new top five program record for Fischer.

As for the women's shot put, Jaden Finch placed seventh overall by hitting a mark of 14.08 meters, which is a new personal best and a top three program record for Finch. Taliyah Wade finished the event with a new personal best of 12.79 meters.

The squad of Taylor Hotchkiss, Amira Austin, Hannah Mitchell, and Kelsey Houser placed 12^th in the women's 4x400 meter relay, finishing with a time of 4:04.20.

In the last event of the meet, the squad of Kaleb Hewitt, Chase Thornhill, Patrick Sastre, and Joe Waller placed eighth in the men's 4x400 meter relay, clocking in a time of 3:19.61 at the finish.