Smith Wins 200m to Set School Record in Outdoor Track
MONTREAT, N.C. - The Columbia College men's outdoor track and field team competed in the Montreat College Open on Friday and Saturday.
Freshman Alex Smith broke another school record in the track meet as he won the 200 meters in a record time of 21.68 seconds while the Koala men swept the top three places in the event on Friday evening. Sophomore Ashton Pouncie was right behind Smith in 2nd in 21.84 seconds while junior Willy Calcano was third in 21.88. Sophomore Kamron Holman also finished 10th in 22.82 while freshman Meshach Guadeloupe was right behind in11th in 22.84. Freshman Jaiden Gray also crossed in 22.9 to place 13th while freshman Tijai Hartwell was 15th in 23 seconds.
Pouncie also finished 2nd in the 400 meters Friday afternoon in a time of 49.45 seconds for his personal best while sophomore Corey Liggins was 18th in 53.5 seconds. Then, in the 400 meter Hurdles, sophomore Jayden Young set his personal best to place 3rd overall in 58.9 seconds.
In the 100 meters on Friday, the Koalas had eight men competing in the 30-man race. Leading the Koalas was Calcano as he finished 4th in 10.9 seconds while Smith was 7th 11 seconds. Freshman Jaden Barnette then finished 13th in 11.2 seconds while Gray and Hartwell were right behind in 15th and 16th in 11.24 seconds. Holman also finished 19th in 11.36 with Guadeloupe 20th (11.38) and Liggins 21st (11.4).
In the Distance races held Friday, freshman Jusaint Conde led the Koalas in the 800 meters placing 20th in 2:14 for a personal-best while freshman teammate Chris O'Berry was 23rd in 2:17 and Jimmy Bates 24th in 2:21.
In the 1500 meters, freshman DJ McGriff-Agers led CC placing 23rd of 40 in 4:26 while freshman Will Parker was 32nd in 4:45 for his personal-best time.
In the Javelin throw on Friday afternoon, freshman Amon Moise came in 6th place overall out of 13 with a mark of 43.6 meters (143 ft).
During the Saturday field events, the Koalas saw junior Jonathan Davis lead in both the Discus and Hammer throw placing 10th in the discus at 41.3 meters for a personal best while also placing 16th in the hammer with a mark of 34.7 meters. Junior Guruveer Jhaj then finished 20th in the Discus with his personal best of 36 meters. Junior Samuelu Ah Ping also came in 17th in the Hammer at a throw of 33.5 meters. Finally, in the Shot Put, Ah Ping led CC placing 15th with a throw of 11.93 meters (39 ft) while freshman Jaden Reed was right behind in 17th throwing 11.8 meters and J. davis 20th at 10.1 meters (33 ft).
In the High jump, freshman Nevan Gaither placed 12th at 1.71 meters (5.5 ft) before finishing 4th of 10 in the Triple Jump in 13 meters. However, sophomore teammate Jaylen Bostic finished third in the TJ with a jump of 13.4 meters. In the Long Jump, Bostic again led the team placing 6th of 14 at 6.36 meters (20.5 ft) while J. Young was 8th in 6.08 meters.
The track and field team will next be competing on April 2-3 at the VertKlasse Meeting in High Point, NC.