The Bucs competed at home in the Buccaneer Track and Field Invitational this past Friday and Saturday. The Bucs recorded 14 podium finishes on Saturday to cap off senior day in the MSHA/ETSU Athletic center.
“We’ve been preparing for this meet since the middle of September,” said junior Neyasha Honorable (Knoxville, Tennessee).
Friday started the events off strong as the Buc’s saw a collection of qualifiers for the finals to come on Saturday, while senior men’s thrower Ben Johnson (Nashville, Tennessee) and freshman women’s long jump Mekayla Brown (Eglin, South Carolina) gave the Bucs a pair of field wins.
Johnson won the men’s field award, along with marking second place in the shot put at 16.02 meters, ninth in all-time meet history.
Track events included multiple new personal records, and qualifiers that would go on the podium in the finals the following day.
Senior Lamisha Simmons (Hollywood, Florida) was one of many track athletes to take the Bucs into the finals as she pulled a double duty in the 60 meter hurdles, having the top qualifying time in the prelims at 8.85 and 8.79 in the semifinals.
Simmons also finished strong in the women’s 200-meter dash prelims. She went on to take the gold in the 60 meter hurdles at 8.80 seconds on Saturday.
Senior Kiana Davis (Ooltewah, Tennessee) made the final in the 60-meter dash with the second-fastest time at 7.62, and went on to earn silver as well as a new personal record in the final at 7.61.
Sophomore Fanta Sanoe (Stone Mountain, Georgia) competed for the first time this year. She also qualified for the 60-meter dash behind Davis with the fourth fastest time at 7.78. Sanoe went on to place fifth in the final while recording a new personal record of 7.85.
Junior Neyasha Honorable (Knoxville, Tennessee) set a personal record in the women’s 400, and went on to win the women’s 4×400 relay in a lineup that included, red shirt- sophomore Vicki Franse (Clinton, Tennessee), sophomore Jessica Lord (Morristown, Tennessee) and freshman Johnaida Eliscar (Columbia, South Carolina).
Field events include highlights for the Bucs such as Brown sweeping the horizontal jumps, and winning the triple jump on Friday with a new personal-best mark of 11.93 meters.
Junior Paige Peterson (Alpharetta, Georgia) would mark bronze in the triple jump with a personal record of 22.56 meters.
“We’ve only been getting better,” said Honorable. “We’ve had about four meets so far, and have progressed each time.”
The Bucs will go on for one more meet scheduled in Nashville, Tennessee to compete in Vanderbilt’s Music City challenge on Feb. 8-9 before the Southern Conference Indoor Championships.
