BOONE, N.C. – The App State men's and women's track & field team capped competition at the App State Open at the Randy Marion Track & Field Facility in Boone with a new men's pole vault program record, four new facility records, five new meet records, and 19 first-place finishes.
"It was an absolutely great weekend for each event area," said director of track & field/cross country
Damion McLean. "This is the type of home meet atmosphere you should have with a facility like this. You get to enjoy every event from each corner of the track. We moved up in conference rankings with big performances this weekend. Things are starting to come together at the right time for the team."
Sophomore
Matthew Gray and senior
Patrick Freeman both recorded clearances of 5.35m (17' 6.75") to surpass the App State program record, the App State Open meet record, and the Randy Marion Track & Field facility record of 5.34m (17' 6.25"), which Gray set at the 2024 App State Open. The pair now share the trio of records. Gray placed first in Saturday's competition and Freeman placed second. In the women's pole vault, freshman
Lilly Nichols made her outdoor debut, recording a clearance of 3.92m (12' 10.25") to place first overall. Her clearance moved her to third in the App State all-time list. Junior
Ava Studney tied for second with a clearance of 3.77m (12' 4.5").
The women's 4x100-meter quartet and the men's 4x100-meter team recorded first-place finishes for the Mountaineers. The women's squad of freshman
Zaniya Littlejohn, sophomore
Nicole Wells, senior
Mariah McCord, and sophomore
Kendall Johnson stopped the clock at 44.92. The men's quartet of freshman
Brandon Parker, sophomore Armonté Ferguson, junior
Ray Lee, and freshman
Jonathan Wilson clocked a time of 40.21, surpassing the previous meet and facility record of 41.06, which was set in 2024 by Winthrop.
The Black and Gold went 1-2-3-4 in the women's 200 meters, led by Johnson, who stopped the clock at 23.57 for a new meet and facility record. The previous meet and facility record was 23.94, set in 2024 by
Jayla Adams. Johnson also rose to fourth in the program all-time list. Wells, McCord, and Littlejohn placed second (23.65), third (23.85), and fourth (24.25), respectively in the women's 200 meters. Wells moved to sixth and McCord moved to ninth in the all-time list in the event. The trio of Johnson, McCord, and Littlejohn went on to qualify for the women's 100-meter finals after going 1-2-3 in the prelims with times of 11.62, 12.06, 12.13, respectively. In the women's 100-meter final, Johnson garnered gold with a time of 11.70 and McCord earned bronze with a time of 12.00.
Wells stopped the clock at 54.03 in the women's 400 meters for a first-place finish as well as a new meet and facility record, surpassing the previous mark of 55.63, which was set in 2023 by
Hunter Robinson. Additionally, Wells rose to second in the all-time list, just shy of the school record of 54.00, which was set in 2014 by Breanna Alston.
Lee clinched first in the men's 100-meter finals with a time of 10.59 after stopping the clock at 10.40 for a meet record in the prelims. His time of 10.40 also moved him to fifth in the all-time list. Additionally, Lee and Ferguson placed second (21.05) and third (21.22), respectively in the men's 200 meters. The pair moved to eighth and ninth, respectively in the all-time list.
The Mountaineers also saw first-place finishes from junior
Parker Kinney and the women's 4x400-meter relay team. Kinney stopped the clock at 47.54 to place first in the men's 400 meters. The quartet of junior
Addison Ollendick-Smith, senior
Regan Hodge, sophomore
Rhys Ammon, and freshman
Savannah Moore took first with a time of 3:55.59.
In the men's long jump, sophomore
Jared Hiatt and freshman
Kendred Walker landed first (7.12m (23' 4.25")) and second (7.04m (23' 1.25")), respectively. Freshman
Jahaila Wright registered second-place finishes in the women's long jump (5.67m (18' 7.25")) and women's triple jump (11.84m (38' 10.25")).
With a toss of 16.37m (53' 8.5"), freshman
Christopher Stewart clinched first in the men's shot put. Stewart also placed third in the men's discus with a toss of 47.62m (156' 3"). Meanwhile, sophomore
Dianna Boykin and freshman
Brittany Ellis placed first (40.94m (134' 4")) and second (36.98m (121' 4")) in the women's discus. Ellis and fellow freshman
Emily Edwards placed second (12.37m (40' 7")) and third (10.83m (35' 6.5")), respectively in the women's shot put.
Senior
Corlasia Scott and junior
Christian Gore both secured second-place finishes in the women's 400-meter hurdles (1:04.05) and men's 400-meter hurdles (55.07), respectively. Scott moved to ninth in the all-time list with her time.
In the MJ Harrelson invitational mile, Moore took third after stopping the clock at 5:05.27. The Mountaineers also saw a third-place finish from junior
Maddie Quinn in the women's mile with a time of 5:14.21.
Friday Rewind
On Friday, the Black and Gold went 1-2-3-4 in the women's 10,000 meters, led by senior
Linnea Maynard, who stopped the clock at 38:18.15. The Mountaineers also saw first-place finishes in both the men's and women's 3,000-meters. Senior
Regan Hodge took first in the women's race with a time of 11:21.82, while freshman
Thomas Wlazlowski took first in the men's race with a time of 9:20.36.
In the women's javelin, freshman
Abigail Goetz placed first with a personal best of 35.18m (115' 5"). Fellow freshman
Emily Edwards recorded a personal best of her own (42.02m (137' 10")) to place second in the women's weight throw.
Five Mountaineers competed at the Wake Forest Invitational on Friday. In the men's 1,500 meters, junior
Ethan Lipham clocked a time of 3:50.00 to place 29th and freshman
Rowan Gwin rounded out the top-40 with a time of 3:52.62. Graduate student
Ethan Turner led the Mountaineers in the men's 5,000 meters with a time of 14:10.99. Redshirt senior
Calbert Guest stopped the clock at 14:18.64 and freshman
Henry Stark recorded a time of 14:22.17. The trio finished among the top-40 in the event.
Up Next
The Mountaineers will round out the regular season with the Penn Relays in Philadelphia, Pa. (April 24-26) and LR Open in Hickory, N.C. (April 26).
App State Senior Recognition
Women's Team (as pictured from left to right)
Corlasia Scott
Emma Russum
Riley Roach
Noelle Meeker
Mariah McCord
Linnea Maynard
Morgan Kornke
Karsyn Kane
Regan Hodge
Abby Granberg
Lana Farris
Catherine Breault
Jasmine Donohue (not pictured)
Lauren Johnston (not pictured)
Men's Team (as pictured from left to right)
Matthew Bigelow
Oliver Wilson-Cook
Steven Smith
Jackson Nichols
Rylan Haskett
Calbert Guest
Patrick Freeman
Chase Burrell
Garrett Bivens
Ethan Turner (not pictured)
