ETSU has presence in field at Catamount Classic, in distance events at Tennessee Relays

CULLOWHEE, N.C. and KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (April 10, 2015) – In split-squad competition Friday at both the Beynon Sports Catamount Classic and the Tennessee Relays, the ETSU track & field program posted solid performances including strong showings in the field at Western Carolina and in distance events at Tennessee.

With most of Friday’s action at the Catamount Classic in the field, the Blue & Gold was up to the challenge with multiple top-10 placements. Three ETSU women placed among the top 16 in the javelin, led by a first-place finish by junior Verena Tobis (Dusslingen, Germany) with a toss of 43.80 meters. Following Tobis in the standings were junior Tyesha Jones (Nashville, Tenn.) in 13^th (27.20 meters) and Adriana Watkins (Kingsport, Tenn.) in 16^th (26.00 meters). Watkins also placed seventh in the women’s triple jump with a 10.89 meters mark.

On the men’s side in the field in Cullowhee, junior Blake Isom (Jefferson City, Tenn.) contributed to the ETSU prowess in the javelin with a fifth-place personal-high throw – out of 20 competitors – of 48.90 meters. In the men’s triple jump, sophomore Jonathon Foote (Bristol, Tenn.) placed tenth in the triple jump with a 12.38 meters leap. Additionally, senior Spencer Keck (Maynardville, Tenn.) finished just outside of the top 10 in eleventh in the hammer with a personal-record mark of 43.02 meters in a thick field of competition featuring 28 throwers.

On the track in Knoxville, the Bucs found some successes in distance events. In the men’s 800-meter run – which featured more than 50 runners – junior Thomas Miller (Lithonia, Ga.) placed 14^th with a 1:53.68 time, while senior Filip Jalovy (Modrice, Czech Republic) finished 22^nd with a race of 1:54.99. In the men’s 1500-meter run, junior Angus Baldwin (Tumbi Umbi, Australia) raced to a 10^th-place finish with a personal-best time of 3:50.47, while sophomore Matthew Warriner (Maryville, Tenn.) followed in 19^th with a 3:51.92 time. In addition, sophomore Mike Williams (Mt. Laurel, N.J.) took 12^th place in the men’s 400-meter hurdles with a race of 55.35.

The vast majority of ETSU’s participation in events this weekend will take place on Saturday on the Western Carolina campus. Competition at the Catamount Classic will commence Saturday with the men’s and women’s 4x100-meter relay at 12:15 p.m. as well as the men’s shot put and the women’s discus. Field events will continue until roughly 4 p.m., while running action will progress throughout the afternoon and early evening; wrapping up the meet with the men’s 5,000-meter run at 6:30 p.m. The meet schedule can be viewed here.

Results and a recap of ETSU’s Saturday performances can be accessed by logging onto ETSUBucs.com.

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