The East Tennessee State University track and field team opened the fifth annual Niswonger Invitational at the Memorial Center in record setting fashion Friday afternoon. The Bucs set two school records on the meet’s first day.
Freshman Jarrod Burton set a school record in the weight throw, breaking his previous record of 54-00 with a heave of 54-02.50. Burton’s heave earned him a seventh place finish overall.
Sophomore Dedra Jones also set a school record in the weight throw, breaking her previous record of 46-03.50 with a toss of 47-09.
Senior James Rainer who was competing unattached finished second overall in the 60-meter dash with a time of 6.76, finishing just behind Total Sport’s Preston Perry who finished with a time of 6.75.
“James is in great form right now and is ready to run very fast. He just needs to relax and run,” said head coach Michelle Byrne.
Other Bucs turning in solid performances on the day included junior Anna-Marie Ricciardi who placed second overall in the high jump, clearing 5-7.
Freshman Zachlynn Blackburn also finished first in her flight in the weight throw with a heave of 13.68 meters. Valerie Boothby turned in a strong performance in the 800-meter event as she finished in a season-best time of 2:19.44, placing 10th overall.
On the men’s side, junior Mike Wright took first in his heat in the 60-meter hurdles in 8.42 seconds, and qualified for Saturday’s finals.
Newcomer Derek Carey finished first in his heat in the 60-meter dash in 7.06 in his ETSU debut. Nate Strickland competed in his first triple jump event of the season, and finished in the top-20 in with a leap of 44-00, placing him 17th overall.
The ETSU track and field squad continued the momentum from a solid opening day of competition at the Niswonger Invitational, and ended the meet with one title and another school record.
Senior James Rainer was competing unattached and finished first overall in the 60-meter dash invitation, running 6.72 to edge Rondrick Parker by five-hundredths of a second.
Freshman Jarrod Burton broke a 9-year-old school record in the shot put. His heave of 52-08.75 broke Curtis Eason’s record of 50-06 set in 1998. His toss was good for a second place finish overall.
Junior Dave Thomas tied a 38 year-old school record in the pole vault. His vault of 14-6 tied Richard Harris’ mark set all the way back in 1968.
Other ETSU competitors also fared well in Saturday’s action. On the men’s side, sophomore Michael Deren finished tenth overall in the 5000 meters finishing in with a time of 15:19.81.
In the one mile run sophomore Joshua Rock finished second in his heat with a time of 2:03.38. Local native Eric Snapp broke his previous season record of 19-04.75 in the long jump, with a leap of 19-06.75 for a 10th place finish.
In the high jump, Mike Wright placed fifth overall with a leap of 6-04, and in the 60-meter hurdles he finished 4th overall with a time of 8.31.
On the women’s side, freshman Valerie Boothby finished fifth overall in the one-mile run invitational with a time of 5:21.27.
The ETSU team returns to action next weekend when they compete in the Carolina Invitational on Feb. 3 in Chapel Hill, N.C.

Author