The Pepsi/Walker ETSU Track and Field Invitational featured over 40 colleges and universities this weekend in what has been one of the premiere indoor track meets in the nation.
The Bucs and Lady Bucs competed with their full squads for the two-day meet that concluded Saturday evening with invitational races that featured professional athletes as well as some of the top collegiate athletes in the south.
With the competition level always high, both the men and women’s teams came up with several impressive performances from their athletes.
The most notable was junior Roseline Addo in the women’s 400-meter dash.
Addo’s first stellar performance of the meet came in that event Friday afternoon, when she scorched the track in 55.87 seconds. That time broke her own school record and qualified her for the final held Saturday night.
“I went out a little bit too hard,” she said. “The last 50 meters is usually the fastest part of my race.”
Unfortunately the joy of breaking the school record and qualifying for Saturday’s final would be short lived.
Addo returned later Friday night to compete the 200-meter dash, where she finished 18 overall in a time of 25.31 seconds, but she injured her Achilles tendon in the process causing her to have to scratch from Saturday’s 400-meter final.
“If she ran tonight, she might have blown her Achilles,” said Matt High track and field coach. “We have to look at the big picture and that’s qualifying for nationals.”
“We took two steps forward yesterday, now it feels like we’ve taken 10 steps back,” he said.
The Lady Bucs also received a strong performance from junior Lauren Campbell in the 800-meter run, where she finished in a time of 2:17.34 for seventh place, one place out of qualifying for Saturday’s final.
“I felt good,” she said. “But I’m not in sprint shape yet.”
Campbell, who won the Southern Conference Indoor Championship in 800 meters last year, will be looking to defend that crown at this year’s championships.
“I hope to be ready to defend,” she said. “Right now we’re building strength toward outdoor (track season).”
The top qualifier for the 800-meter final was Kameisha Bennet of the University of Tennessee with a time of 2:12.29.
The Lady Bucs also received top 20 performances from Emily Campbell (19th) in the 5000-meter run with a time of 18.59.67, Jennifer Howard (12th) in the 400-meter dash in 58.01, Kristin Truman (17th) in the triple jump with a jump of 34 feet 4 inches and Cheryl Howard (19th) in the triple jump at 32’5.5″
On the men’s side, the Bucs received strong performances from several athletes with the most impressive being a seventh place finish by junior Greg Sprowl in the 5000-meter run.
Sprowl started at the back of the pack and moved up the entire race crossing the finish line in a time of 15:18.44, in the process defeating several runners from conference rivals Appalachian State and Davidson.
“I just relaxed and focused, concentrating on slowing down my breathing,” he said. “I’m pleased with my performance and where I’m at, at this point of the season.”
The men’s 5,000 was won by Tommy Evans of High Point College in 14.50.98.
Sprowl will be looking to run the 3,000-and 5,000-meter races at the conference championships, hoping to score as many points as possible for the team.
The Bucs also received a couple of good races from senior Evan Hawkins in the 200-and 400-meter dashes.
Hawkins, though a little disappointed in his 400-meter race, still finished 12th in a time of 48.94 seconds in a very competitive field.
“Everybody went out pretty fast, I didn’t have a whole lot left at the end,” he said. “I was expecting to do a little better at this meet.”
Hawkins came back from his disappointment in the 400 to finish 19th in the 200-meter dash in

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