Men's Track & Field Opens Outdoor Season in Myrtle Beach
MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. - The Columbia College track and field teams opened their outdoor season competing at the Myrtle Beach Collegiate Challenge over the weekend with the men placing 13th out of 26 schools (10th among non D-1) while the women finished 11th of 27 (8th among non Div. 1 schools).
Freshman Alex Smith led the Koala men by placing an impressive 2nd in the 400 meters in 48.2 seconds with sophomore Ashton Pouncie finishing 17th in 50.18 seconds. Freshman DJ McGriff-Agers then finished in a quality 9th place out of 27 in the 800 meters in 1:55.83 as he was third among non-d1 teams.
Junior Willy Calcano was also 30th out of 70 in the 200 meters in a time of 23 seconds even with freshman Tijai Hartwell placing right behind in 32nd in 23.15 seconds. In the 100 meter dash, Calcano finished 29th in 11.1 seconds with Hartwell in 37th in 11.22 seconds. Freshman Jaiden Gray was also 41st in 11.29 and 44th in the 200 in 23.65. Sophomore Jayden Young also placed 23rd in the 400 meter hurdles in 1:01.
In the Distance races, freshman Will Parker led the men placing 23rd in the 1500 meters in 4:47 while freshman Alex Blake was 25th in the 3000 meters (16th among non D1) in 9:49.
In the Relays, the Koala men finished 5th of 18 in the 4x100 in 42.1 seconds on Saturday morning, 5th of 13 in the 4x200 in 1:29 on Friday, and 10th in the 4x800 in 9:33 on Friday as well featuring Will Parker, Alex Blake, Jude Dill, and Jalen Miller. The 4x100 team consisted of Kamron Holman, T. Hartwell, freshman Jaden Barnette, and Willy Calcano while the 4x200 meter team featured A. Pouncie, J. Gray, K. Holman, and A. Smith.
The Koalas also competed in seven field events over the weekend including four throwing and three jumping. In the Triple Jump Saturday, freshman Nevan Gaither finished 6th of 19 with a school-record mark of 13.63 meters (44.5 ft) while he was also 9th in the High Jump on Saturday in 1.8 meters (nearly 6 ft). Gaither then led the team in the Long Jump on Friday as well finishing 11th of 55 at 6.29 meters while Jayden Young was 19th at 6.12 meters.
Junior Jonathan Davis then led the team in the Discus and Hammer Throws placing 21st of 57 in the Discus on Saturday with a mark of 36 meters while coming in 23rd of 42 in the Hammer on Friday in 33.55 meters. Columbia also had Guruveer Jhaj (35m) and Samuelu Ah Ping (33.9m) place 26th and 27th respectively in the Discus.
In the Javelin throw on Friday, freshman Amon Moise placed 14th of 37 with a mark of 44.38 meters (145 ft) while junior Sam Ah Ping led CC in the Shot Put on Saturday placing 21st of 57 at 11.4 meters with Jaden Reed right behind in 23rd at 11.22 meters.
The track team will next be competing on March 20-21 at the Montreat College Open in the NC mountains.