COLUMBIA, S.C. and WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - The Lenoir-Rhyne Men's and Women's Track and Field have put another weekend of their indoor season into the books, competing at two separate events over the past couple of days.
In the South Carolina Invitational in Columbia, S.C., members from both the men's and women's track squad put together some dazzling performances led by some of their best athletes.
The Bears ended the event on a high note with the men's 4x400-meter relay; for a squad that has already achieved so much success in the short indoor season, the members set a new bar over the past weekend.
With the combined efforts of John Sisson, Dario Matau, Jacob Wadsworth, and Lucas Besong, Lenoir-Rhyne finished with a time of 3:11.19, which is the best posting out of any Division II team; it almost got the Bears on the podium as well with a fourth place finish.
Nanette Nikolajsen (19:20.72) took home first place in the women's 5000-meters, which was the ninth-best indoor posting by Lenoir-Rhyne in program history.
For the women's 5000-meter invite, Paige Ewald (18:06.19) and Kathrin Polke (18:22.82) just missed out of the Top 3 with fourth and fifth place finishes, respectively. Teresa Vesely (18:58.51) also earned a ninth-place finish in the same event.
The Bears also had solid times in the men's 5000-meter races. Eli Riggs secured a fifth-place finish (16:04.87) in the men's open race while Jacob Parkinson got eighth place (15:06.06) in the invitational.
In another men's distance race, Lewis Budgen just slid into the Top 10 with a 10th place (8:36.28) finish in the 3000-meter event.
Alexis Brown had two splendid runs on the track with a fourth-place finish (7.37) in the 60-meter dash and ended in fifth place (24.72) in the 200-meter race.
While the women shined on the track, a few women also had spectacular finishes on the field. In the high jump, Destini Wilson took home first place with 1.55-meter clear with Sofia Lanina finished third with her 1.50-jump.
Pearl Ballard was also victorious in the women's pole vault, clearing with personal-best 3.40 meters. The clearance is the second-best mark in program history.
In the men's pole vault event, Noah Rhodes and Mike Karicher both placed in the Top 10 with each posting a 4.15-meter clearance.
In the Camel City Invitational in Winston-Salem, N.C., the Bears did not have as much success, but a couple of members from the men's field team still had good showings.
Ellis Horton finished eighth in the men's weight throw with a toss of 15.68 meters. Meanwhile, in the men's shot put, Dalton Hatley finished ninth with 14.40 meters throw.
The Bears will return to action on Feb. 10-11 for the NCAA DII Pre-Nationals in Virginia Beach, Va. with the competition beginning on Friday at 10 a.m.
