ETSU notches five top-five finishes in seeded events on Saturday

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (March 22, 2014) – The ETSU track & field program ended a solid weekend of competition with five top-five finishes in seeded events on Saturday in its first meet of the 2014 outdoor season at the Charlotte 49er Classic at Irwin Belk Track & Field Center.

Continuing off of her strong performance in the prelims on Friday, Dede Edgecombe (Spartanburg, S.C.) raced to a fourth-place finish in the 100 meter hurdle finals on Saturday with a time of 13.68.

Also prolonging the momentum established yesterday, Katerina Vodova (Humpolec, Czech Republic) followed her second-place finish in the long jump on Friday with a fourth-place standing in the high jump today with a leap of 1.70 meters. In addition, along with Vodova in the pole vault, Ashley Kessler (Knoxville, Tenn.) registered an identical mark of 3.70 meters to tie with Vodova in fifth place. This mark is a collegiate-best for the sophomore.

The strong showings in the field continued for the women with Lexie Burley (Johnson City, Tenn.) taking the runner-up spot in the triple jump with a soar of 12.14 meters, while Verena Tobis (Hechingen, Germany) earned ETSU’s lone event win at the Classic with a first-place mark of 45.11 meters in the javelin throw. This mark is a personal best for the sophomore.

“I am satisfied with most of our performances from this weekend,” said ETSU Director of Track & Field George Watts. “Our women's team is ahead of where they were at this time last year.” 

On the men’s side, rookie vaulter Brett Squibbs (Rock Hill, S.C.) continued his impressive run in the pole vault with a second-place mark of 4.95 in the seeded event. In the unseeded men’s pole vault competition, the Bucs featured a pair of top-10 finishes with Stephond Allmond (Memphis, Tenn.) placing fifth with a flight of 4.15 meters, while David Butt (Beaufort, S.C.) slotted into ninth with an identical mark of 4.15 meters.

The Bucs will continue the outdoor season next weekend, Friday – Saturday, at the Raleigh Relays in Raleigh, N.C. on the campus of North Carolina State University.

“After competing a reduced number of student-athletes this weekend,” said Watts, “we will have a more complete team this coming weekend at the Raleigh Relays.”  

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