The ETSU men’s and women’s track and field teams turned in some of the top times in the Southern Conference this season, recording personal and season bests at the Florida Relays last Thursday and Friday.
The competition began for ETSU on Thursday night with the 3000-meter steeplechase and 5000m run.
In the steeplechase, sophomores David Haefner and Emily Chaney each recorded season-best times and moved to the top of the SoCon track and field rankings in their event.
Haefner placed sixth overall in a time of 9 minutes and 20.64 seconds behind Army’s Clint Tisserand, who won in 9:06.87.
“I’m satisfied with my time at this point in the season, I’m looking to better it at the conference championships,” said Haefner, who now holds the conference’s top time with Chattanooga’s Bret Burns in second (9:22.45).
Haefner has also knocked over 17 seconds off his personal best time from last season, but is not surprised by his improvement.
“I was expecting it to come down,” he said. “I have done a lot more training and have good teammates to train with.”
In the women’s race, Chaney also set a season-best time, finishing fourth overall in 11:34.31. Georgia’s Erin Kelley finished first overall in 11:12.89.
Chaney’s time put her over 30 seconds ahead of Appalachian State’s Alisha Little (12:07.12) for the conference’s top ranking and was a 30-second improvement from her previous season best time.
“I didn’t think about it, I just went out and ran and it happened,” Chaney said. “I felt really good and have had good workouts the past couple of weeks.”
Freshman James Grufferty also improved his season-best time in the 5000m run with his second place finish in 14:49.40 last Thursday night.
Grufferty is currently ranked No. 1 in the SoCon in the 5000m and 10,000m runs.
The competition continued last Friday for the Buccaneer track teams with the 400-meter dash and 1500m run.
In the 400m, the Lady Bucs’ Jennifer Howard and Kim Simmons each won their section of the race. Howard finished 19th overall with the conference’s top time in the 400m of 56.34 seconds. Simmons finished 28th overall with a time of 57.77.
South Carolina’s Demetria Washington won the 400m in 51.94.
Freshman Brad Yewer also turned in a season-best time in the 1500m run. Yewer placed sixth overall in a very tight race with a time of 3:54.79, which is the third fastest time in the SoCon this season.
Western Carolina’s Caleb Bailey finished just over two seconds ahead of Yewer, placing third overall in the conference’s best time of 3:52.69. Davidson College’s Dan Gibson has the No. 2 ranking (3:53.94).
Georgia Tech’s Joe Stegall won the 1500, finishing less than three seconds ahead of Yewer in 3:51.80.
Senior Lauren Campbell also recorded a season best time in the 1500m, placing 22nd overall and sixth in her section with a time of 4:53.60. It is the third best time in the SoCon.
Graduate assistant coach and former SoCon 200/400m champion Evan Hawkins also competed last weekend, racing the 200m in what was his first race of the season.
Hawkins set an outdoor personal best time of 21.61 seconds, placing 12th overall.
Hawkins’ best time ever in the 200m came when he won the 200m at the 2001 SoCon indoor championships with a time of 21.55.

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