SALEM, Va.- Carson-Newman track and field ended the first day of the Bast-Cregger Invitational with new personal records and spots in the finals.
"It was a great start to the year," head track and field coach David Needs said. "I'm proud of our athletes who have kept the start in perspective."
The invite began with the men's and women's high jump events at 3:30 p.m. Oluwafemi Richards grabbed gold in the event with a 1.98-meter clearance. Freshman Kendall Whitehead placed third on the women's side of competition. She finished the event with a 1.50-meter clearance.
"When you win an event like high jump, like Femi Richards did, it's an awesome way to start the season," Needs said. "Certainly, our sprinters and jumpers did a great job competing in the 60 meter. Our goal was to put them all in the 60 and see how their training translated. With the many personal records achieved, I am proud to see how it translated for those athletes."
During the men's 60-meter dash prelims, Dawson Jones landed in fourth with a 6.94-second performance and national qualifying mark. Shemar Patten finished the prelims in ninth with a provisional qualifying mark in the event (6.98 seconds). In the semifinals for the event, Patten came in third with a qualifying time of 6.84 seconds. Jones followed shortly behind in fourth with a new personal best in 6.87 seconds. The men's 60-meter dash finals are scheduled for tomorrow, Dec. 9 at 12:30 p.m.
On the women's side of the 60-meter dash prelims, Sade De Sousa finished second with a 7.63-second qualifying time. Janaya Davis-Gainer also ran for a national qualifying time, grabbing fifth in the preliminary event in 7.97 seconds. Kadidja Sangare and Brooke Taylor both secured a personal best and provisional qualifying mark in the event, finishing sixth (7.87 seconds) and seventh (7.94 seconds) in the prelims respectively. Myke'Lah McMiller rounded out the top-10 in the prelims with a time of 8.11 seconds. Lauren Tabor finished 12th during the prelims with a personal best 8.12-second sprint.
De Sousa landed in second again during the women's 60-meter dash semifinals with a 7.60-second performance. Davis-Gainer followed in third in 7.70 seconds, a new personal best. Brooke Taylor grabbed fifth in the semis in 7.91 seconds, and Kadidja Sangare grabbed the six-spot in 7.92 seconds. The women's 60-meter dash finals are scheduled for tomorrow, Dec. 9 at 12:35 p.m.
"It was a great start for Shemar and Kadidja in the hurdles. I look forward to seeing them compete again tomorrow," Needs said.
Sangare made a mark in the 60-meter hurdles prelims. She finished the preliminary event first in 8.86 seconds, a national qualifying time. In the men's 60-meter hurdles prelims, Patten landed in third in 8.40 seconds. The men's 60-meter hurdles finals will take place tomorrow at 12:15 p.m. with the women following directly behind at 12:25 p.m.
"The biggest thing for our staff is evaluating how we compete," Needs said. "Our goal today and Saturday is not to be a finished product. Instead, we want to focus on getting off to a good start."
Carson-Newman track and field will be back in action tomorrow, Dec. 9 beginning at 11:00 a.m. Stay up to date on cneagles.com.
