Buccaneer distance runners captures third gold this season; first collegiate 3000m win

COLUMBIA, S.C. (Feb. 3, 2023) – ETSU’s Rebekah Howard (Ashland, Ky.) continued her winning ways on Friday at the South Carolina Invitational.

Having two gold medals to her name this indoor season, Howard added another one to her resume today. The Ashland, Ky. native put together a stellar performance in the 3000m – shattering her personal best – as she finished with a top time of 10:03.50 inside the Carolina Indoor Track & Field Complex.

Howard, running in the event for just the second time of her collegiate career, took over a minute off her personal best, which was set two years ago in her first indoor meet at the VMI Challenge. The Buccaneer distance runner finished that race with a time of 11:08.48.

Howard won Friday’s race by five seconds over The Citadel’s Heidi Fortin, while also defeating two runners from Georgia Tech and Western Carolina’s Caroline Hilliard.

To go with Howard’s gold, the Bucs also had two more podium finishes on Friday.

Genevieve Schwarz (Oak Ridge, Tenn.) finished second in the mile with a time of 4:47.52, while Brayden Hamblen (Rock Falls, Ill.) also won a silver in the 3000m with a personal best time of 8:08.61.  

To go with the podium finishes for the Blue and Gold, ETSU also had a plethora of personal bests on day one of the South Carolina Invitational. Below are those personal bests:

Women

Ansley Archuleta (Fort Mill, S.C.) – Mile 

Aaryanna Billingsley – Weight Throw 

McKenna Boykin (Powder Springs, Ga.) – 400m 

Morri Howell (Franklin, Tenn.) – Weight Throw 

Ant’wonike Jennings (Chattanooga, Tenn.) – 60m 

Camryn Johnson (Knoxville, Tenn.) – Mile 

Julia Karsten (Old Hickory, Tenn.) – Mile

Chanelle Kruger (Johannesburg, South Africa) – Mile 

Izelle Kruger (Johannesburg, South Africa) – Mile 

Jessica Lord (Morristown, Tenn.) – Mile 

Anna Moore (Knoxville, Tenn.) – Shot Put 

Grace Singleton (Bluff City, Tenn.) – Mile 

Kiera Snyder (Clyde, Mich.) – Mile 

Karli Townsell (Statesville, N.C.) – 3000m 

Men

David Birkhofer (Catawba, N.C.) – 400m 

Xian Campbell (Chattanooga, Tenn.) – Mile; 3000m 

D’Shawn Fletcher (Locust Grove, Ga.) – 60m 

Ethan Fulford (Knoxville, Tenn.) – Long Jump

Brayden Hamblen (Rock Falls, Ill.) – 3000m 

Nate Hillis (Knoxville, Tenn.) – Mile; 3000m 

Ben Kenner (Maryville, Tenn.) – Mile 

Josh Krafsur (Fort Collins, Colo.) – Mile 

Phelani Maduwa (Parys, Free State, South Africa) – Mile 

Treven McGhee (Crossville, Tenn.) – 400m 

Nolan Pedota (Tuscaloosa, Ala.) – Mile

Logan Wagner (Greeneville, Tenn.) – Weight Throw 

Jack Watson (Danbury, Conn.) – Mile; 3000m 

The meet concludes on Saturday with men’s pole vault and men’s/women’s high jump getting the field events started at 10 a.m., while the women’s 5000m is the first track event at 10:50 a.m. Live results are available via Adkins Trak Timing.

For more information on Buccaneer men’s and women’s track and field, visit ETSUBucs.com.