The ETSU Track and Field Invitational kicked off the season for the men’s and women’s track teams over the weekend.
“It’s always good to host your first meet so you don’t have to travel and have that stress,” said Head Coach George Watts.
The first day showed a lot of promise for both teams, with the new freshman recruits on the women’s throwing side showing promise for the rest of the season. Camryn Bowman (Signal Mountain, Tennessee) finished 8th throwing 41m.
Another freshman, not throwing, Heather Feuchtenberger (Elizabethton, Tennessee) came in 2nd at a time of 2:16.85 in the 800m. Freshman Lindsay Bruce (Knoxville, Tennessee) came in second in the 5K.
The men also had some success with their freshman on the first day, with Matt Scarr (Wamberal, NSW, Australia) finishing 7th in the men’s 800m.
The real show came in the form of red shirt junior Ben Johnson (Nashville, Tennessee) in the men’s weight throw. Johnson broke the 10-year-old ETSU record by 2.5 feet on the first day of the meet.
“It’s actually his fourth school record that he has set now,” said Watts. “That was the highlight of the meet; that’s for sure.”
With breaking that record, Johnson is now ranked 30th in the country in the weight throw event. On the second and final day of the meet, Johnson was awarded “Athlete of the Meet” for his showing.
There were two relay teams for the Bucs, one for the women and one for the men, that secured wins for the overall score.
With the first meet under wraps, the two teams will travel to Wake Forest on Jan. 20 for the Wake Forest Invitational.
