Track and field dominates Catamount Classic

ETSU men’s and women’s track and field teams raced in the Catamount Classic on April 14-15 in Cullowhee, North Carolina. 

The weekend proved to be successful for the Buccaneers, with multiple first place finishes and several athletes placing in the top 10. 

On Friday’s field events, three Bucs placed in the hammer throw. Senior Mary Brown (Radford, Virginia) took gold with a throw of 51.17m, also earning her a personal best. Junior Alyssa Ceja-Pena (Salinas, California) placed fifth with a throw of 46.23m and sophomore Anna Moore (Knoxville, Tennessee) threw 44.35m, earning her eighth place. 

Sophomore Diana Romero-Barba (Tepatitlan de Morelos) earned gold on the pole vault with a mark of 3.66m. Also on pole vault, freshman Ethan Fulford (Knoxville, Tennessee) placed second after a jump-off with an athlete from Western Carolina University. Fulford earned a mark of 4.43, a personal best. 

Finally, for the field events on Friday, freshman Anaya Young (Lumberton, New Jersey) earned a personal best in the long jump. 

Friday’s track events proved to be rewarding for junior Evan Guzman (Franklin, Tennessee) and junior Myles Stoots (Mobile, Alabama). Guzman took first place in the 1500m, earning a personal best with a time of 3:48.04. Stoots took fifth place with a time of 3:53.00. Both athletes placed in the 5000m, with Stoots coming in second with a time of 14:59.56 and Guzman in third with a time of 15:02.95. 

Saturday continued racking up achievements for the Buccaneers, starting with sophomore Tya Blake (Lynchburg, Virginia) who earned silver in the triple jump with a mark of 11.71m. Sophomore Malachi Thomas (Chilhowie, Virginia) placed fourth in the high jump with a height of 1.95m. Brown placed third in the discus with a mark of 42.83, another personal best. 

Freshman Logan Wagner (Greeneville, Tennessee) placed in two events on Saturday. Wagner placed fourth in the Shot Put with a mark of 14.66m and sixth in the Discus Throw with a mark of 42.49m. 

Saturday’s track events kept up the good mojo until the end. The women’s team dominated the 800m race. Senior Genevieve Schwarz (Oak Ridge, Tennessee) earned gold with 2:08.46, winning this event for the third year in a row. Senior Jessica Lord (Morristown, Tennessee) placed second with 2:10.89, junior Rebekah Howard (Ashland, Kentucky) placed fourth with 2:13.68, junior Julia Karsten (Old Hickory, Tennessee) placed fifth with 2:15.12, sophomore Ansley Archuletta (Fort Mill, South Carolina) placed sixth with 2:17.23, freshman Meg Lance (Woodstock, Georgia) placed ninth with 2:20.29, and junior Hannah Burkhart (Knoxville, Tennessee) placed eleventh with 2:21.66. 

The 800m men’s race also proved successful with senior Phelani Maduwa (Parys, Free State, South Africa) placing first with a time of 1:50.20 and junior Miguel Parrilla (Knoxville, Tennessee) placing second with a time of 1:50.64. 

Freshman Treven McGhee (Crossville, Tennessee) placed third in the 110m hurdles with a time of 15.40 and eighth in the 400m hurdles with a time of 58.22. Also in the 400m hurdles, Fulford placed seventh with a time of 57.94.  

Finally, Archuletta placed third in the 400m hurdles for women with a time of 1:07.83. Freshman Abdul-Rahman Jaber (Alcoa, Tennessee) placed second with a time of 9:50.45 and freshman Ben Jenner (Maryville, Tennessee) placed third with a time of 10:06.26 in the Steeplechase. 

The Buccaneers will compete at the Virginia Challenge in Charlottesville from Thursday, April 20 to Saturday, April 22. This will be their last race before the SoCon Championships on May 8-9.