KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (April 7, 2023) – For the second straight year, ETSU’s Evan Guzman (Franklin, Tenn.) won gold in Knoxville.

A year after capturing gold in the 1500m, Guzman was back on Tom Black Track putting together a winning performance on Friday night at the Tennessee Invitational.

This year, Guzman was atop the podium stand in the 5000m, as the Franklin, Tenn. native finished with a time of 14:21.61, which was six full seconds better than his nearest competitor. Guzman beat out a pair of runners from Indiana as Skylar Stidam finished runner-up with a time of 14:27.95 and Tristian Forsythe ended in 14:33.38.

Friday marked Guzman’s first gold in the 5000m, while it was just the second time he competed in the event outdoors.

William Hartig (Radford, Va.) joined Guzman in the race and set a PR with a time of 14:47.35, resulting in an 11th-place finish. Hartig took nine seconds off his time from last week’s run at High Point where he finished in 14:56.62.

Guzman was not the only Buccaneer with a podium finish on Friday.

Genevieve Schwarz (Oak Ridge, Tenn.) finished third in the 1500m and Mary Brown (Radford, Va.) – competing in the meet for the second straight day – placed third in the discus.

Schwarz, who was named Southern Conference Track Athlete of the Month earlier on Friday, with a season-best time of 4:24.56. The Oak Ridge, Tenn. native reduced her season best time by over six seconds, which was set at the Bucs’ season-opening meet in Charlotte. Schwarz finished behind a pair of Ohio State runners who set personal bests in the event. Daniella Santos posted a time of 4:23.14 and Gia Napolean was right behind in 4:23.62.

Rebekah Howard (Ashland, Ky.) also registered a top-10 finish by setting a PR with a time of 4:34.39. Howard’s previous best time in the event was set last month at the Raleigh Relays where she clocked in at 4:35.61.

In discus, Brown waited until her second-to-last attempt to hit a mark of 40.86m, which was nearly three meters better than her previous best throw of the day – 37.98m on her third attempt.

The Bucs wrap up competition at the Tennessee Invitational on Saturday. The meet gets underway with the heptathlon at 10:30 a.m.  

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