The North Carolina track and field program opened its season this weekend in Blacksburg, Va. for the Virginia Tech Invitational.
What happened?
Both the men’s and women’s track and field teams were relatively weak this weekend at the Virginia Tech Invitational. The two-day event was the Tar Heels first test of the season and their low-standing results seems to be an indicator that the team still has a lot of work to do.
The women’s team proved strong in the field events with junior Sydney Banks finishing second overall in high jump with a jump of 5-5.25 (1.66m). Graduate pole vaulter Emerson Porter jumped 3.94m 12-11 and was seventh overall.
In the long jump, graduate Anna Keefer’s 20-5.75 (6.24m) jump was not enough to overcome first place winner Charisma Taylor from Tennessee. While the All-American took silver in this event, there are still many opportunities for her to clinch a first place win.
Senior Lauryn Hall and junior Kayla Hunt placed sixth and eight respectively in the women’s 200m dash both coming in at just under 25 seconds. Hall and Keefer were also members of the women’s 4x400m relay which placed fourth overall with a time of 3:47.66. They were joined by first-years Gwyneth Goldowski and Alyssa Hernandez.
The men’s 4x400m relay team came in at 3:20.60 and fifth overall. Two-time all-American sprinter sophomore Craig Saddler II led off the relay with sophomore Mark Alkins finishing as the team’s anchor. Alkins also competed in the 1000m, coming in at a time of 2:34.75 while his teammate, senior John Gove, finished fifth overall at 2:27.85.
The men who competed in the mile all finished under 4:30 with first-year Colton Sands earning the bronze for his 4:08.28 time.
Four athletes competed in the men’s weight throw with senior thrower James Joycey throwing the farthest out of his teammates with a distance of 66-3.25 (20.20m). On the women's side, Grace Wills placed 14th with a throw of 49-3 (15.01m).
