Men's Track & Field Team Competes at High Point and Anderson
ANDERSON, S.C. - The Columbia College men's track & field team competed at the Vertklasse Meeting at Div. I High Point University on Thursday and Friday in NC and the Electric City Invite at Anderson University on Saturday morning in SC as they looked to qualify for the conference tournament at the end of the month.
HIGH POINT, N.C. - During the VK meeting, the men's 4x100 meter relay team of Willy Calcano, Alex Smith, Kamron Holman, and Jaden Barnette placed 11th in 42.5 seconds while they were 7th among D-2 and D-3 schools. In the 4x400 meter relay, the Koala team of Meshach Guadeloupe, Ashton Pouncie, Kamron Holman, and Alex Smith finished in a virtual tie for 5th of 15 overall in a time of 3:18 as only D-1 teams finished ahead of the Koalas.
Leading the Koalas on the weekend was freshman indoor champion Alex Smith as he once again won the 400 meter race in a season-best time of 47.7 seconds. Freshman Meshach Guadeloupe also finished 38th in 50.78 seconds while sophomore Kamron Holman was 50th out of 93 in 51.7 seconds.
In the Long Jump, CC's Jaylen Bostic placed 28th of 41 with a mark of 6.2 meters (20.5 ft) while he also finished 24th in the Triple Jump at 13.16 meters (over 43 ft). freshman Darius Otero also placed 36th with a jump of 11.86 meters (nearly 39 ft).
In the throwing events, Columbia was led by junior Samuelu Ah Ping finishing 39th in the Shot Put at 11.97 meters (39.5 ft) while in the Javelin Throw, freshman Amon Moise was 21st at 44.98 meters for his personal best throw.
In the 800 meters, freshman DJ McGriff-Agers led the Koalas by placing 10th out of 75 in 1:55 for his personal best time while freshman Jusaint Conde was 58th in 2:08.
In the 400M Hurdles, sophomore Jayden Young finished 16th out of 32 in 58.5 seconds for his personal best time. Junior Willy Calcano ran the 100 meter dash and finished in 11.1 seconds to place 49th while freshman Jaden Barnette was 62nd in 11.2 seconds and Jaiden Gray in 71st in 11.3 seconds. Corey Liggins also had his season-best time in 11.39 seconds to finish 77th out of 106 sprinters.
In the 200 meters, sophomore Ashton Pouncie led the way placing 43rd overall in 22.29 seconds while Barnette was 57th in 22.5 seconds.
Columbia saw freshmen distance runners Jimmy Bates and Christopher O'Berry finish 86th and 87th in the 1500 meters in times of 4:54 and 4:57 respectively while freshman Will Parker placed 29th in the 3000M Steeplechase in a time of 11:35. Fellow freshman Alex Blake then came in 61st in the 5K race in a time of 18:18. Bates was also 69th in the 800 in 2:16.
In the men's 5000 meter Racewalk at Anderson on Saturday, sophomore Jude Dill won the race in a time of 30:40 while freshmen teammates and brothers Jordon Miller and Jalen Miller finished 2nd and 3rd overall in times of 30:41 and 35:30 respectively.
The men are next competing on April 10 in Florence, SC at the Francis Marion Invite.