Bucs start strong in Day One of ETSU Track and Field Invitational

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (Jan. 12, 2018) – Day One of the ETSU Track and Field Invitational is now in the books, and the Buccaneer track and field team turned in strong results to open the 2018 indoor season Friday in the dome.

Among those results, redshirt junior Ben Johnson (Nashville, Tenn.) set an ETSU school record in the men’s weight throw with a mark of 19.86m. This mark breaks his previous personal best (also the previous school record) of 18.91m by nearly a full meter.

"I thought we had a very solid Day One at the ETSU Track and Field Invitational," said ETSU head coach George Watts. "The big highlight of the day was the win and school record by Ben Johnson. He has done a fantastic job over the last year to become, if not the best, certainly one of the all-time best throwers at ETSU. He now holds four of the six throws for school records and appears to have chance to improve on all of them."

More Highlights from Day One

• The meet started with the women’s weight throw, as freshman Camryn Bowman (Signal Mountain, Tenn.) turned in an unofficial result of 41m to finish eighth.

• Junior Lamisha Simmons (Hollywood, Fla.) blew away the competition in the women’s 60H prelims, finishing first overall from the second heat and beating 43 other competitors.

• Fellow junior Kyra Atkins (Greer, S.C.) qualified for tomorrow afternoon’s women’s 60m dash finals with a time of 7.72, winning Heat No. 5 by three-tenths of a second.

• In the women’s high jump, junior Rebekah Fox (Franklin, Tenn.) turned in a second place finish with a mark of 1.65m, clearing the bar on her third attempt.

• Two ETSU athletes turned in top three finishes the women’s 800m final, as senior Emily Williams-McElroy (Bristol, Tenn.) finished second with a 2:16.24 time and freshman Heather Feuchtenberger (Elizabethton, Tenn.) nipping on her heels at 2:16.85. Williams-McElroy won section two, while Feuchtenberger finished second in section one.

• In the men’s 800m final, freshman Matt Scarr (Wamberal, NSW, Australia) held his own, finishing seventh overall and first in his section with a 1:57.45 time. Senior Hadyn Borghetti-Metz (Rogersville, Tenn.) placed 18th at 2:01.71.

• The women’s 200m prelims later followed, with junior Kiana Davis (Ooltewah, Tenn.) qualifying with a 25.24 time. Simmons followed her, also qualifying for the Bucs with a 25.60 time. Former ETSU standout Katrina Seymour, representing the Bahamas, led all runners with a 24.29 time.

• Freshman Lindsay Bruce (Knoxville, Tenn.) and sophomore Mia Depillo (Fort Wayne, Ind.) competed in the 5K, finishing second and fourth, respectively, in section two. Bruce finished 16th overall at 19:49.14 and Depillo placed 21st at 20:10.37.

• Rounding out the first day for ETSU, sophomore Nathan Longfellow (Cookeville, Tenn.) finished seventh in the men’s 5K with a 16:02.52 time.

Thoughts from Coach Watts

On successful prelims: "I thought Lamisha, Kyra and Hunter (Sampson) ran really nice races to advance to Saturday's finals, and I look forward to seeing how they handle their first finals of the year."

On women's 800m and tomorrow's DMR: "We had a nice 2-3 finish from Emily and Heather in the women's 800m run with big personal best performances from both of them. They will be the lead off and anchor legs on tomorrow's DMR, and I expect us to be in the hunt for a medal."

On Fox in the high jump: "Rebekah equaled her best in the high jump to finish second and had two very nice attempts at the next bar."

On the women's throwers: "Our women throwers had a very nice first day with multiple personal bests, highlighted by Camryn making the final in the weight throw. The throws group has done a nice job throughout the fall and to this point of the season, and, if they stay patient, will do very well throughout their careers."

For a full schedule of the meet and results after day one of the ETSU Track and Field Invitational, use the links on the right side of this page.

ETSU fans wanting to receive Buccaneer news, score updates, in-game promotions and much more sent to their mobile device can do so by signing up for “Buc Updates.” Click here to sign up today!