Smith Wins 200M while 2 Other Records are broken to lead Men's Indoor Track in Roanoke

SALEM, Va. - The Columbia College men's indoor track and field team competed at the Finn Pincus Invitational on Friday and Saturday at Div. III Roanoke College in Salem, VA.

Freshman Alex Smith led the way for the Koalas as he won the 200 meter dash in 22.97 seconds in the 35-person race. Sophomore Teammate Ashton Pouncie then placed 3rd in the 200 in a time of 23.1 seconds while freshman Tijai Hartwell came in 7th in 23.46 seconds. Sophomore Kamron Holman and freshman Jaden Barnette also finished 10th and 11th in times of 23.6 and 23.7 seconds with Corey Liggins right behind in 14th in 23.9.

Hartwell then led the men in the 60 meters finishing 6th in the prelims in 7.15 seconds leading a gourp pf four that qualified for the semis including Pouncie, Barnette and freshman Meshach Guadeloupe all running times between 7.2 and 7.3 seconds. In the semis, Hartwell came in 5th place out of 22 for his personal record time of 7.08 seconds to qualify for the finals where he also came in 5th place in 7.2 seconds.

Holman also finished 8th of 13 in the 300 meters in 37.8 seconds while Guadeloupe placed 8th of 21 as well in the 400 meters in a time of 54.2 seconds. Freshman Jimmy Bates then led the way in the 600 meters placing 14th in 1:40.1 while freshman Jalen Miller also ran a 1:40.7 to place 15th.

AAC Athlete of the Week DJ McGriff-Agers then finished 3rd of 11 in the 1000 meters in a time of 2:46.16 to break the school record and qualify for conference while grad senior Owen Jensen then came in 7th of 26 in the Mile in 4:40 to break the school record and qualify for conference. In the 800 meters, freshman Jusaint Conde led the way placing 12th of 18 in 2:19 while freshman Will Parker came in 15th of 22 in the 3000 meters (1.8 miles) in a time of 10:27. Finally, in the 5000 meters (3.2 miles) Bates and Jalen Miller virtually tied for 5th out of 11 in 19:25.

In the final race on Saturday in the 4x400 meter relay, the Koalas, consisting of Smith, Holman, Pouncie and Barnette, came in 3rd place out of six in a time of 3:26 falling just behind Mount Olive and Roanoke. Then, during Friday's Distance Medley Relay, the Koalas came in 4th place in another school record time of 11:15 featuring Jensen (1600), Alex Blake (1200), Pouncie (400), and McGriff (800). 

In the High Jump on Friday, Nevan Gaither broke the school record again with a mark of 1.9 meters (6.3ft) to place 5th of 10 and is another top 50 NAIA mark. Gaither then finished 13th of 28 in the Long Jump with a mark of 6.28 meters (over 20 ft). 

In the two throwing events, the Koalas were led by junior Jonathan Davis in the Weight Throw placing 11th of 22 with a mark of 11.89 meters (39 ft) while freshman Jaden Reed was just behind in 13th at 11.86 meters and junior Samuel Ah Ping in 14th at 11.79 meters. In the Shot Put, Columbia was led by Ah Ping placing 12th of 27 with a throw of 12.29 meters (40 ft) while sophomore Nebi Young was 14th at 12.04 meters.

The Koala men will next be competing on Sunday, Jan. 25 at 10:00 am in the Asics Superblast Invite at the JDL Indoor Track in Winston Salem, NC.