BLACK MOUNTAIN, N.C. - The Eagles set 11 new personal bests on the first day of the Montreat Invitational.
"We had a good start today with some strong performances against a large and talented field," says Director of Track & Field and Cross Country David Needs. "It was a long day but for our distance runners, throwers and jumpers it was a step in the right direction. Saturday we get to see what our athletes can do with the changing weather but it'll be a great opportunity."
On the men's side, Trayzel Juredini-Wyche finished third in the javelin with a personal best throw of 49.56 meters to earn six points for the Carson-Newman men's team.
In the long jump, Theo Devillard finished third with a jump of 7.09 meters, a new personal best, to earn six more points for the men. Courtavious Garrett's sixth place finish with a jump of 7.00 meters earned the Eagles men's team three more points and is a new outdoor personal best for him. Camden Fritz's jump of 6.69 meters is a new personal best overall in the long jump by 0.15 meters.
Draven Green earned three more points for the men in the hammer throw, finishing sixth by destroying his old personal best by almost five meters with a throw of 45.43 meters. Austin Gramman finished 10th with a throw of 44.07 meters, a new personal best by almost two meters.
"Seeing Theo, Courtavious and Camden all with season best marks is a credit to the continued progress our long jumpers are making," says Needs. "I'm also extremely proud with the big personal bests for Trayzel and Draven."
Raymond Brugmans set a new personal best in the 1500 meter run, finishing 14th with a time of 4:09.47.
Hunter Miller blew past his old personal best in the 5000 meter run, finishing with a time of 16.44.86.
For the women, Madison Bunch finished 10th in the javelin throw with a toss of 30.22 meters. Alexis Brown set a new personal best with a toss of 22.74 meters, finishing 17th.
Olivia Fanning ran the 1500 meter run for the first time in her collegiate career, setting a personal best of 5:41.82.
Rachel Strayer finished ninth in the 5000 meter run with a time of 19:19.82.
In hammer throw, Darcie Bagent hammered her old personal best in the event with a throw of 20.69 meters, almost four meters farther than her first throw last week at the LR Bears Open.
Former Eagle athletes and current assistant coaches Kieran Showler-Davis and Kris Potts-Howard also competed in the men's long jump. Showler-Davis finished second with a jump of 7.14 meters while Potts-Howard finished fifth with a jump of 7.03 meters.
The Eagles men's team currently sits in seventh place overall with 18 points, while the women sit in 19th place. UNC-Asheville leads the women's standings with 43 points while Milligan leads the men with 24 points.
The Montreat Invitational wraps up tomorrow, Mar. 27 in Black Mountain. Live video and stats can be found on the Montreat College website beginning at 7:45 am.
