Men’s and women’s track and field competes in Tennessee Invitational

ETSU men’s and women’s track and field teams participated in the Tennessee Invitational in Knoxville on April 7 and 8.

Evan Guzman (Franklin, Tenn.) stole the show on the first day, where he won gold for the second straight year in Knoxville. After winning gold in the 1500m last year, he came back again to compete in the 500m. He finished with a time of 14:21.61, six seconds better than the time below him. This was Guzman’s first gold in the 500m, and just the second time he ever competed in the event outdoors.

William Hartig (Radford, VA.) set a personal record with a time of 14:47.35, which landed him with an 11^th place finish in the same race as Guzman.

On the women’s team, Genevieve Schwarz (Oak Ridge, Tenn.) finished in third place in the 1400m, and Mary Brown (Radford, VA.) placed third in the discus. Schwarz was named Southern Conference Track Athlete of the Month earlier last week. Rebekah Howard (Ashland, KY.) had a top 10 finish by setting a personal record with a time of 4:34.39 in the women’s 1500m. In the discus, Brown hit a mark of 40.86m, which was nearly three meters better than her previous best throw.

On the final day, Chanelle Kruger (Johannesburg, South Africa) made some history of her own. She obtained her first individual collegiate win after she broke a school record in the steeplechase just two weeks ago. Kruger won the steeplechase with a time of 10:35.44 inside LaPorte Stadium. The Blue and Gold had an impressive showing on Saturday, with four podium finishes. Marcus Evans (Snellville, Tenn.) was a part of that as he had a personal best mark of 13.60m in the triple jump. This was Evans first collegiate podium finish.

Maya Murchison (Ganmbrills, Md.) finished third in the high jump, showing off her vertical with a mark of 1.55m. This was also her first collegiate podium finish. Miguel Parrila, a Knoxville native, ran a time of 1:51.89 in the 800m to earn a bronze medal.

The Bucs will compete next Friday and Saturday as they head to Cullowhee, N.C. for the Catamount Classic.