Posted: Mar 22, 2025
Men's Track & Field Competes at Shamrock Invite in Myrtle Beach
MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. - The Columbia College men's track and field team competed at the Alan Connie Shamrock Invitational this past weekend and came away with some decent results.
The meet consisted of numerous NCAA D-1, D-2 and D-3 teams as well as various NAIA schools.
Leading the Koala men in the track events was sophomore Kimarje White as he placed 8th out of 27 in the 400m Hurdles in a time of 58.3 seconds but was 2nd among NAIA schools. Also competing in the hurdles was freshman Jayden Young as he finished 21st in 1:04.
Freshman sprinter Tristen Patterson also competed hard placing 15th out of 100 in the 200 meters in a time of 22 seconds, finishing just 0.3 off the top time and was 3rd among NAIA teams. Senior Xavier Linen then finished 30th in the 200m in a time of 22.4 seconds while sophomore Willy Calcano was 47th in 22.8 seconds. Finally, freshmen Dominick Young and Ashton Pouncie were 58th and 61st in 23.1 seconds.
In the 100 meter dash prelims, Patterson again led the team finishing 38th (6th in NAIA) in just over 11 seconds while Calcano was 46th out of 99 in 11.2 seconds. Dom Young also ran and was 63rd in 11.4 while freshman Ryan Flowers was 75th in 11.5 seconds. In the 400 meters, Pouncie went on to finish 28th of 58 in 52.8 seconds and was 5th in NAIA in the open division while junior Caleb Bailey ran a time of 52.4 seconds in the 400m as well to place 29th in his field while he would have been 23rd in the Open division.
In the men's field events, CC was led by senior Daylon McDonald placing 21st of 65 in the Discus on Saturday morning with a throw of 37.7 meters while junior teammate Geo Tobias was 34th at 34.3 meters. Sophomore Guruveer Jhaj was also 40th at 33.2 meters while fellow sophomore Sam Ah Ping was 49th at 31.1 meters.
In the Hammer throw on Thursday afternoon, McDonald again led the Koalas placing 26th (4th in NAIA) with a throw of 39 meters (128 ft) to finish just head of senior teammate Gavin Rice, who was 27th at 37.9 meters. Sophomore Jonathan Davis then came in 42nd with a throw of 30.2 meters with Jhaj coming in 47th at 27.5 meters. Sophomore Jarek Asencio then came in 20th place (3rd in NAIA) of 46 in the Javelin Throw on Friday with a mark of 44.5 meters.
During the Long Jump on Friday morning, the Koalas were led by Jayden Young placing 36th out of 60 with a mark of 5.9 meters (19 ft) while sophomore teammate Tyler Dixon was 41st at a mark of 5.74 meters. In the triple jump on Saturday afternoon, Tyler Dixon led the Koalas with a 28th place finish out of 44 with a mark of 12.5 meters (41 ft).
Finally, in the Shot Put on Saturday, CC was led by Sam Ah Ping placing 23rd of 60 with a throw of 12.2 meters (40 ft) to set a new personal record while G. Tobias finished 31st at 11.6 meters. Rice was also 36th at 11.3 meters and was followed by J. Davis in 41st in nearly 10.6 meters.
In the Relays on Saturday, the Koalas went on to finish 8th of 25 (3rd in NAIA) in the 4x100m in a time of 42.2 seconds consisting of Calcano, Patterson, D. Young, and Bradley Tilby. The Columbia men also ran two teams in the 4x400m relay race as well finishing 8th and 10th out of 26 teams. The 8th place team consisted of Dom Young, A. Pouncie, R. Flowers, and J. Young in a time of 3:26 while the 10th place team came across in 3:28 led by White, Patterson, X. Linen, and Bailey. They were the top two scoring NAIA schools.
The track team is next in action this weekend competing in the Livingstone Invite in NC on Friday and the Emory Meet in Atlanta on Saturday.