Rivera wins decathlon with 6330 points, Watkins places third in heptathlon with 4116 point total

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (March 20, 2015) – The ETSU track & field program totaled seven top-three finishes on Friday in both preliminary and finals competition on day two at the Charlotte 49er Classic at the Bell Track & Field Center.

Sophomore Nathan Rivera (Knoxville, Tenn.) maintained his first-place standing from yesterday in the decathlon with a top-point total of 6330. Freshman Adriana Watkins (Kingsport, Tenn.), too, held her standing from Thursday in the heptathlon with a third-place score of 4116.

In preliminary action, the Bucs found successes with four moving on to Saturday’s finals. Junior sprinter Keturah Williams (Alpharetta, Ga.) placed third in the women’s 100-meter dash with a time of 11.94, while in the women’s 400-meter hurdles, senior hurdler Nicole Alexander (Rock Hill, S.C.) and freshman Nicki Smith (Urbandale, Iowa) placed fourth and sixth, respectively, with races of 1:04.15 and 1:05.14. On the men’s side, sophomore hurdler Mike Williams (Mt. Laurel, N.J.) took the top spot in the 400mH with a 53.10 time.

In event finals, junior jumper Ashley Kessler (Knoxville, Tenn.) took the title in the women’s pole vault with a mark of 3.85 meters. Junior Angus Baldwin (Tumbi Umbi, Australia) was the runner-up in the men’s 1500-meter run with a 3:54.42 time, while junior Verena Tobis (Dusslingen, Germany) rounded out the top three in the women’s discus with a toss of 42.80 meters.

On Saturday, competition will commence at 10 a.m. with the men’s shot put, while running events will begin at noon with the 4x100-meter relay. Action at the 49er Classic will wrap up with the 4x400-meter relays at approximately 4:30 p.m.

Results and recaps of ETSU’s performances at the Charlotte 49er Classic can be found at the end of each day by logging onto ETSUBucs.com. Visit Charlotte49ers.com for more information about the meet.

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