The ETSU track and field team went head-to-head against former SoCon rivals and current Atlantic Sun competitors at the Furman Invitational on Saturday and made their presence felt by winning nine events inside the Irwin Belk Track Complex.
The Bucs enjoyed a productive day in the field events, as senior Josh Cloyd won both the long and triple jump titles, while freshmen Lili Barboza and Justin Burton, along with junior Zachlynn Blackburn won gold in their respective throwing events.
Cloyd turned in season-best marks in both the long (23-02) and triple jump (47-09). Those leaps also propelled the senior jumper to the top of the performance charts in the A-Sun.
Barboza won the hammer with a toss of 153-07 and finished second in the discus (108-04) and shot put (36-08). Blackburn’s discus throw of 110-07 helped her take home the gold.
Burton’s effort in the shot put rounded out the field events as he won the event with a toss of 138-09 and also placed third in the javelin (148-09).
On the track, the Buccaneer men’s distance runners matched their teammates’ performances.
Senior Jeff Crane and sophomore Ben Ronoh highlighted ETSU in the distance events. Crane paced his way to the crown in the 5,000-meter as he clocked in at 15:18.47, while Ronoh turned in the fastest time of the steeplechase with a mark of 9:38.34.
In the hurdles, junior Nic Chernikow ran his way to a title in the 110-meter hurdles by turning in a time of 15.75 in the event, while sophomore Ashton Bishop won the 400-meter hurdles on the women’s side (1:05.46).
ETSU track and field will compete again this weekend at the UNF Osprey Challenge in Jacksonville, Fla.

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