By Nicole Cook, Reporter
Bill Carson Invitational- April 1-2
The Braves traveled to Greenville. to compete in the Bill Carson Invitational. Oralndus Gamble landed an NCAA provisional mark in his Long Jump, Jaela Thomas broke school records in her 200m-Dash and four runners, three jumpers and seven throwers all recorded new personal-bests.
To start, Ragian Evans snatched third place in the Discus Throw with a personal-best of 40.26m. Lillian Marino finished in the top five for both the Discus Throw and Hammer Throw, landing fourth place with her disc at a mark of 38.57m and placing fifth with her hammer having reached 45.46m.
The Braves continued to dominate the Hammer Throw with Bennie Oxendine securing fifth place with another personal-best of 43.31m and Evans finishing in tenth with a mark of 39.55m. Cedric Douglas also showed well in the Discus Throw and recorded a new personal-best of 40.70m.
The second day of the invitational saw Orlandus Gamble qualify for a NCAA provisional mark with his best distance in the Long Jump at 7.27m which won him the event.
Soon after, Jaela Thomas ran the 200-meter Dash in 24.75 seconds, finishing in third and breaking the school record for this event held by Jani Perez for eight years at 24.82 seconds.
In more women’s action, Quanterra Harrison landed a third place finish in the 100-meter Hurdles. Thomas won a top-five finish of fifth place in the 100-meter Dash running a 12.34, and Savannah Watkins also claimed fifth place with her new personal-best mark of 5.38m in the Long Jump.
On the men’s side, Jeffrey Gunter, Caleb Baldwin, and Cole Thomas all recorded new personal bests in their events.
Gunter placed second in the 400-meter hurdles and third in the 110-meter Hurdles while Baldwin placed third in the 200-meter Dash and Cole Thomas sixth in the Pole Vault.
Colonial Relays-April 1-2
The UNCP Track and Field Teams took off at the Colonial Relays hosted by William and Mary College in Williamsburg, Va. Joshua Chepkesir and the Men’s 4×1500 Relay team highlighted the Colonial Relays with Chepkesir claiming another NCAA qualifying time and the relay team breaking a four-year-old school record. Chepkesir ran the 5000-meter Run in 14 minutes and 20.84 seconds leading the Braves in their successful opening day at the Colonial Relays. Chepkesir’s time not only qualifies him for the NCAA’s once again, but it also claimed him the first place title and his personal best.
The second day at the Walter J. Zable Stadium at Cary Field saw Delsin Burkhart, Joshua Chepkesir, Ean Ormsby and Jack Phieffer team up for the 4×1500 Relay and score a top-10 finish while beating the school record for the event by more than 28 seconds.
Burkhart also ran and finished in the top-10 for both the 800-meter and 1500-meter Runs. He placed eighth in the 1500-meter and set a new personal-record of 3:56.68. To close out the weekend, Norman Junker and Hunter Levi ran the 5000-meter Run with Junker finishing in 20th and Levy close behind in 27th.
Aggies Invitational- April 9
Pembroke headed to Greensboro and competed at the Irwin Belk Track Complex this past Saturday where Lucas Nervo and Jack Phieffer finished in the top-10.
Meanwhile, Savannah Watkins and Zion Blue represented the jumpers with an 11th place finish from Watkins and a mark of 5.21m in the High Jump and a 14th place spot for Blue in the Long Jump at 6.36m.
The Braves will head to Columbia, S.C. for the Gamecock Invitational at the Sheila and Morris Creggor Track this coming Saturday, April 16, and also return to Mount Olive at the Ray McDonald Sr. Track & Field Complex to compete in the Trojan Relays.