JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (Feb. 2, 2017) – Brett Squibbs (Rock Hill, S.C.) and Benjamin Johnson (Nashville, Tenn.) led the ETSU men’s and women’s track and field teams as Squibbs finished top-5 in the men’s pole vault, and Johnson crushed a personal best in the weight throw on the first day of the Music City Challenge in Nashville on Friday.

Highlights of Day One

• The senior, Squibbs, led the Bucs as he finished fifth in the men’s pole vault final. Squibbs came in a three-way tie as he notched a 5.05m mark. In the three meets he has participated in this season, he has finished in the top-5 in every event including finishing second at the Buccaneer Track and Field Invitational in Johnson City last weekend.
• A native of the host site, Nashville, Johnson performed well in front of the home crowd as he crushed the weight throw. He out-threw his previous best, which he achieved last weekend by 1.25 meters. The red-shirt sophomore has been dominating competition as he has placed in the top-10 in all four meets in the weight throw this season. Johnson finished sixth today in a competitive field with a mark of 18.91m.
• Senior, Katrina Seymour (New Providence, Bahamas), nearly set a personal best as she competed in a 79-person 200m dash event. She was just 0.01 seconds away from matching her personal best as she crossed with a 24.63 time. Seymour finished in 12^th and was 0.26 seconds away from tying fifth place.
• Adriana Watkins (Kingsport, Tenn.) set a personal best as she leapt to a 12.00m mark in the women’s triple jump. She broke her previous best of 11.58m, which she set last weekend in the Buccaneer Track and Field Invitational.
• Lamisha Simmons (Dania Beach, Fla.) also set a personal best as she competed in the women’s 200m. She set her previous best of 25.45 at the ETSU Track and Field Invitational, but she knocked off 0.12 seconds to claim a new best mark.

Information on Day Two

The second and final day of the Music City Challenge is filled with many track and field events. The Bucs will limit themselves to their primary event to prepare and stay healthy for the Southern Conference Indoor Championships, which begins Feb. 25 inside the ETSU/MSHA Athletic Center in Johnson City.

The final day will feature 23 events with most of the events being finals. The only events that feature a preliminary round are the men’s and women’s 60m hurdles and 60m dash. These four prelims start at 2 p.m. with the women’s 60mH.

The first event of the second day will be the women’s 3000m, which begins at 11 a.m., Eastern Time. The final event will start at 6:15 p.m. with the men’s 4x400.

To follow live results for the Music City Challenge, click here.

Quoteables

Director of Track and Field/Cross Country George Watts: "We had a solid day with a couple of personal bests and decent marks for some of the athletes. Ben Johnson had a huge personal best of over four feet in the weight throw making the final and finishing a very respectable sixth. Jacob Dunlap also had a personal best in the weight as he continues to show steady improvement."

"Katrina Seymour won her section of the 200m right at her season best, and Brett Squibbs is close to breaking his indoor school record in the pole vault as he had a couple of strong attempts at the height he went out on."

"We ran hard last week, and we might have been a little flat today as a result of it. We will just have to wait and see what tomorrow brings."

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