ETSU advances five into Saturday’s sprints finals events; total seven top-five finishes in event finals 

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (Jan. 17, 2014) – The ETSU men’s and women’s track & field teams performed well on Friday on their home track with multiple advancing times in preliminary action and a number of top-five finishes in finals events on the first day of the Niswonger Invitational inside the ETSU/MSHA Athletics Center on David E. Walker Track at Gentry Field.

Out of the gate on Friday morning, Dede Edgecombe (Spartanburg, S.C.) set the tone with a blazing first-place time of 8.54 in the women’s 60 meter hurdles prelims. With the top-six times advancing to the finals on Saturday, Edgecombe was joined as a qualifier by Nicole Alexander (Rock Hill, S.C.) who placed fourth with a time of 9.01.

The women also got things going early in the field with Lexie Burley (Johnson City, Tenn.) taking third place in the triple jump finals with a mark of 11.82. Later in the afternoon, the Blue and Gold also had a strong showing in the pole vault finals led by newcomer Kaytlin Mack (Olean, N.Y.) earning a fourth-place finish with a vault of 3.65m, while Ashley Kessler (Knoxville, Tenn.) matched Mack with a duplicate collegiate-best mark of 3.65m to slot into fifth place.

Sophomore Keturah Williams (Alpharetta, Ga.) turned in a stellar overall performance in sprints preliminary events, qualifying for tomorrow’s finals in both the 60 and 200 meter dash with top-six times. In the 60m, the Georgia native raced to a fifth-place finish with a time of 7.65, while also posting a 25.13 time in the 200m which was good for sixth place.

On the men’s side, freshman Matt Moore (Oak Ridge, Tenn.) was also able to advance to Saturday’s final in the 60 meter dash with a time of 6.93. The ETSU men experienced the most success in distance events, highlighted by placing three student-athletes in the top 10 in the 800 meter run. Thomas Miller (Lithonia, Ga.) led the way for the Bucs with a 1:56.87 time to finish third, while Filip Jalovy (Modrice, Czech Republic) trailed Miller in fifth with a time of 1:56.90. Sneaking into the top 10 in the event for the Bucs was Desmond Pierce (Morristown, Tenn.) who raced to a time of 1:58.03 to finish ninth.

In the last collegiate event of the day, Anders Ludvigsen (Odense, Denmark) paced the Bucs in the 5K with a 15:07.52 time and a fourth-place finish.

Action tomorrow at the Niswonger Invitational will resume with the women’s 5,000 meter run blue section final, slated to begin at 8 a.m. Field events, as well as distance and sprints competition, will carry on over the course of the day with women’s and men’s 4x400 meter relay finals wrapping things up at 6:30 p.m. Meet Information and event schedules can be accessed by clicking here.

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