JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (May 1, 2011) - Highlighting a brief stop in Radford, Va., for the Highlander Invitational this weekend, Leah Oakhill (Brisbane, Australia) threw her name into the regional hat with a top-48 mark in the high jump.
Oakhill took second place in the event as she cleared 5-06.75 (1.70m), leading the ETSU field athletes who made the trip. The mark is No. 48 in the region, right on the bubble for regionals this month.
"She will need to jump a few centimeters higher to make it in," said Assistant Coach Eli Sunquist, "but she is in a good place right now." Oakhill also got into the top ten in the shot put on Friday.
Also on the women's side, two jumpers made strong marks as Bethany Lender (Altoona, Pa.) won the triple jump with her leap of 39-06.75 (12.06m) and Scotti Sampair (Forest Lake, Minn.) finished fourth in both horizontal events, going for 17-00.00 (5.13m) in the long jump and 36-02.25 (11.03m) in the triple jump. Lili Allison (Oxford, Ala.) got into the top five in throws, throwing the hammer 155-10.00 (47.50m).
On the men's side, Jason Johnson (Springfield, Pa.) led the charge with a second-place triple jump of 48-00.00 (14.35m). Justin Burton (Bastian, Va.) had two third-place efforts including a personal best in the hammer, 157-05.00 (47.98m), and a 47-05.75 (14.47m) shot put. Two Bucs finished in the top five in the javelin throw, but Matt Baum's (Middletown, Md.) 183-00.00 (55.78m) heave fell short of a new facility record by independent thrower Roald Bradstock. Sophomore Sam Liska (Cookeville, Tenn.) posted a fourth-place 169-00.75 (51.53m).
ETSU heads to Clemson, S.C., next Friday and Saturday for the Orange and Purple Classic, the final chance to notch qualifying marks for the NCAA regional meet in Bloomington, Ind., May 27.
For more on ETSU Track and Field, visit ETSUBucs.com.
