ETSU track and field traveled to Raleigh, North Carolina during the Easter weekend to partake in the Raleigh Relays.
In an historic first day, Junior Ben Johnson (Nashville, Tennessee) broke the school record for discus, eclipsing his own record set last year during the Southern Conference Championships. His throw of over 171 feet was good enough to beat out his previous best by 6 feet and earn him a 3rd place finish. Johnson followed up this performance with another record breaking throw on Saturday. This time it was a 222-feet, 7-inch javelin throw that also earned him first place in the field of 28 participants.
Along with this dominance on the field, ETSU also had many stand out performances on the track. Senior Simeon Roberts (Greeneville, Tennessee) hit the track on Friday afternoon to compete against 34 others in the 3000 meter steeplechase. Roberts ran a strong race and finished with a time of 8:53, which was good enough to beat his personal record and put him on the podium at 3rd place.
Roberts joined a team of Matthew Scarr (Wamberal, Australia), Adam Bradtmueller (Sarasota, Florida), and Noah Charles (Johnson City, Tennessee) to compete in the 4×800 meter relay. This was the first showing for this 4×800 team this season, and they finished in 5th place out of 17 teams. Their time of 7:53 ties the season record from last year.
On the women’s side, Emily Williams-McElroy (Bristol, Tennessee) ran a 4:35 in her first outing in the 1500 meter dash. This gave her a spot of 54th out of 146, while her teammates Heather Feuchtenberger (Elizabethton, Tennessee) and Macy Carrier (Bluff City, Tennessee) placed 72nd and 102nd respectively.
It was another strong showing for the team, led by the impressive performance of Ben Johnson, who seems bent on breaking as many records as he can. The team will be back in North Carolina next weekend to compete in the Vertklasse Meeting and another chance to break personal and program records.
