Both the men and women sweep the podium in the long jump

RADFORD, Va. (April 26, 2013) – With an early sweep of the top three spots in each of the men’s and women’s long jump, including stadium records in the event from both Tyler Stepp (Dandridge, Tenn.) and Katerina Vodova (Humpolec, Czech Republic), the ETSU track & field teams turned a strong start into a solid overall showing on day one at the Highlander Invitational at Patrick D. Cupp Memorial Stadium on the Radford University campus.

After turning in firm performances in the long jump in recent weeks past, the Buccaneers prolonged the momentum by sweeping the event on Friday. Stepp started things out on the right foot by notching a Cupp Stadium record with a leap of 7.47m and a first-place finish. Stepp was followed by his teammates including a collegiate best 7.21m soar from Ryan Beaver (Virginia Beach, Va.) en route to a second-place standing and a 7.06m third-place launch from Diego Lawrence (Waxhaw, N.C.).

The women continued ETSU’s dominance in the long jump, complete with another stadium record, this time a 5.92m personal best jump from Vodova as she too took the top standing. Vodova was backed by her teammates as well including a second-place mark of 5.65m from Courtney Kinlaw (Myrtle Beach, S.C.) and a 5.59m third-place leap from Kelly Monteleone (Pittsburgh, Pa.) to finish the sweep.

“We had a very productive day at the Highlander Invitational,” said ETSU Director of Track & Field/Cross Country George Watts. “For the third meet in a row, we won the men’s and women’s long jump. Katka Vodova set a personal best and is close to hitting a jump that will get her to the first round of the NCAA Championships.”

Quite a few additional collegiate and personal bests were also achieved today, including a 51.68m college best throw from Evaristo Valls (Elche, Spain) in the javelin and a personal best toss of 44.81m from Verena Tobis (Hechingen, Germany) also in the javelin. The Blue and Gold was also strong in the pole vault where Lindsey Kessler (Knoxville, Tenn.) added a college high mark of 3.43m, while Chris Winkle (Gray, Tenn.) and David Butt (Beaufort, S.C.) also turned in collegiate best vaults of 4.65m and 4.35m, respectively.

“Our throwers did a nice job with several personal bests and continue to show huge gains this season,” said Watts. “Verena Tobis improved her chances to advance to round one of the NCAA Championships with her personal best toss in the javelin.”

“Our vaulters showed some nice improvement with Chris Winkle closing in on our school record. Overall, we continue to improve our competitiveness and I look forward to Saturday and the weeks to come.”

ETSU will look to continue the success it experienced today on Saturday where the day will be dominated by quite a few track events, preceded by a few additional field competitions. Follow along with live results here.

Notables:

Men

Tyler Stepp – long jump – 7.47m (SR) – 1^st place

Ryan Beaver – long jump – 7.21m (CB) – 2^nd place

Diego Lawrence – long jump – 7.06m – 3^rd place

Evaristo Valls – javelin throw – 51.68m (PB) – 4^th place

Chris Winkle – pole vault – 4.65m (CB) – 4^th place

Richie Lovell – javelin throw – 41.10m (PB) – 6^th place

Graham Boone – long jump – 6.79m (OB) – 6^th place

David Butt – pole vault – 4.35m (PB) – 6^th place

Women

Katerina Vodova – long jump – 5.92m (SR) (PB) – 1^st place

Courtney Kinlaw – long jump – 5.65m – 2^nd place

Verena Tobis – javelin throw – 44.81m (PB) – 2^nd place, discus throw – 45.12m – 3^rd place

Kelly Monteleone – long jump – 5.59m – 3^rd place

Tyesha Jones – discus throw - 41.85m (PB) – 5^th place

Lindsey Kessler – pole vault – 3.43m (CB) – 7^th place

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