Brown, Guzman, Romero-Barba earn top finishes

CULLOWHEE, N.C. (April 14, 2023) – Three Buccaneers garnered gold medals on the opening day of the Catamount Classic, which got underway Friday from the Catamount Athletic Complex in Cullowhee, North Carolina.

Mary Brown (Radford, Va.), Evan Guzman (Franklin, Tenn.) and Diana Romero-Barba (Tepatitlan de Morelos, Jalisco, Mexico) earned top podium spots in their respective events on Friday.

Brown earned her second collegiate win in the hammer with a personal best mark of 51.17m. The Radford, Va. native beat out Winthrop’s Ambar Nunez-Gomez (50.01m) and Wofford’s Jenna Reid (48.29m) for the top spot. Brown’s previous best in the hammer was 50.65m when she finished second at last year’s Southern Conference Championship, while her first win in the event came last spring at the Charlotte 49er Classic.

Staying in the field, Romero-Barba collected her first outdoor win in the pole vault and second career win in the event. Romero-Barba cleared a season-best mark of 3.66m on Friday to earn gold – her first win in the event since claiming first-place at last year’s ETSU Track & Field Invitational.

For the second straight week, Guzman won gold as he posted the top spot in the 1500m – marking his second career win in the event. Coming off a win in the 5000m last week at the Tennessee Invite, Guzman captured gold with a personal best time of 3:48.04 in the 1500m on Friday. Guzman, who enjoyed his second gold-medal performance at the Catamount Classic, won by a full second. The Franklin, Tenn. native won the 800m at this meet back in 2021.

In men’s pole vault, freshman Ethan Fulford (Knoxville, Tenn.) went to a jump off with senior Jonathan Lehe of Western Carolina. Fulford, who set a personal best mark of 4.43m, was edged out by the upperclassmen and finished runner-up.

Joining Brown with top-10 finishes in the hammer were Alyssa Ceja-Pena (Salinas, Calif.) and Anna Moore (Knoxville, Tenn.). Ceja-Pena placed fifth (46.23m) and Moore finished eighth (44.35m).

Myles Stoots (Mobile, Ala.) joined Guzman in the top-five in the 1500m as he clocked in at 3:53.00. The Buccaneer duo then went second and third in the 5000m later on Friday night. Stoots finished in 14:59.56 and Guzman clocked in at 15:02.95.

Anaya Young (Lumberton, N.J.) set a personal best in the long jump (4.97m).

The Bucs will conclude competition at the Catamount Classic on Saturday, beginning at Noon.

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