LEXINGTON, Va. – Junior sprinter Devon Moore (Baxley, Ga.) earned first in the men's 60-meter dash semifinals to seal his spot in Saturday's finale, highlighting day one of the two-day VMI Indoor Classic in the Commonwealth State.
Though his speed was a tenth of a second off of his personal best 6.69 set at the Finn Pincus Invitational a few weeks ago, Moore's 6.79 in Friday's semifinals put him above all else by three one-hundredths of a second.
It is the third-straight time this season that Moore has made the finals of the 60 when he has competed in the sprint.
"It wasn't as fast as he wanted or we wanted...but he is consistent and we're at the point with him where it's not about placement but what times with him. He wants to run fast...and fast for Devon is faster than a lot of other people," head coach David Needs said.
Moore and fellow junior Toot Johnson (Rincon, Ga.) will both compete in the 200-meter dash Saturday after Moore finishes with the 60-meter finals.
In the field setting a new personal best was triple jumper Courtavious Garrett (Greenwood, Fla.) who finished 12th in a largely Division I stacked field with a leap of 13.50m. He finished second in his flight, leaping past the 12.75m mark in all three attempts.
Graduate student Conal McCambridge finished as the second-best athlete among South Atlantic Conference members in the 5000 meters with a time of 15:49.81. While not a best on the season, the sub 16-minute time is an improvement over two weeks ago at the Buccaneer Invitational.
Sophomore Rachel Strayer (Chattanooga, Tenn.) continued the high performance in the 5000 meters, finishing fifth in the 5k with a new personal best of 17:46.93. Her time was the fastest among Division II competitors in the race.
"Rachel is one of those runners that is determined and measures her success based off of not only the field but herself each time," Needs said. "That's the kind of athlete we want here."
The 4000-meter DMR quartet of Klara Naude (South Africa), Faith Nelms (St. Petersburg, Fla.), Holly Talbut-Smith (Crawley, England) and Strayer finished third with a combined time of 12:39.57. Nelms, who ran the 400-meter sprint section of the event, was the only competitor below the one-minute mark across all six teams. The time is the best in the SAC and the Southeast region, setting the team up for success in the upcoming conference meet on Feb. 29-March 1.
Sprinter Tia Davis (Ootlewah, Tenn.) ran her fastest time in the 60 this indoor season, finishing 15th in the semifinals among all runners with a time of 7.92 seconds. Sophomore Abby Hegarty ran her personal best in the 400 with a mark of 1:00.12 and will run the 200-meter dash tomorrow.
A pair of freshmen in Abby Owens (Ocala, Fla.) and Marlee Baker (Morristown, Tenn.) finished above the 3-meter mark in the pole value with measurements of 3.20m and 3.05m, respectively. Owens finished third in the college section of the event, while Baker hit a personal best.
Sophomore leaper Nathalie Schumacher (Germany) earned a share of fourth place with a high jump measurement of 1.60m – the highest mark among Division II leapers in the event.
Saturday's slate of action will feature the men's 60-meter dash finals at approximately 11 a.m. with the men's 200 meters at 12:20 p.m.
The trio of Danilo Cardoso (Brazil), Christian Stumpf (Johnson City, Tenn.) and Christian Shouse (Jacksboro, Tenn.) will take to the high jump at 12:30 p.m.
Live stats for Saturday can be found by clicking here or by checking back to CNEagles.com at the conclusion of the event.
