AUBURN, ALA. – Seniors Christina Nikolaou and Dakota Wright both earned an event win and the men's 4x400-meter relay picked up a first-place finish Saturday as the Western Carolina track & field teams wrapped up the Tiger Track Classic hosted by Auburn at Hutsell-Rosen Track. The Catamounts recorded a total of 14 new personal records.
“I felt that we did a great job competing this weekend,” head coach Jesse Norman stated. “We had numerous PR's across multiple event groups. This weekend will set us up nicely for the run into our home meet and the conference championships.”
Nikolaou won the women's 1,500-meter run with a personal record time of 4:35.05. Kate Mattison finished in ninth place as she completed the race in 4:51.11.
Wright won the men's discus with a personal record throw of 48.70 meters (159'09”). He earned his first collegiate individual win by 1.2 meters (3'11”). Mac Bennett finished in fourth place with a throw of 44.9 meters (147'4”) with Adam Hart finishing in eighth thanks to his throw of 41.86 meters (137'4”).
In the final event of the meet, the men's 4x400-meter relay team of Miles Greer, Devaniel Dale, Shon Pratcher, and Caleb Albrecht teamed up for a victory as they took the checkered flag with a time of 3:14.61.
Charles Cooley cleared a personal record height of 4.60 meters (15'1”) to finish in second place in the men's pole vault. Thomas Martin tied his personal record as he cleared 4.30 meters (14'1.25”).
Dale finished in second place in the men's 400-meter dash as he zoomed around the track with a new personal record time of 47.12.
Ronje Williams was the runner-up in the women's 100-meter hurdles with a personal record time of 14.27.
The women's 4x400-meter relay team of Dominique Delisser, Kellsie Whitehead, Marissa Blakely, and Tatiana Mills finished in second place with a time of 3:49.16.
Trini Feggett finished in third place in the men's long jump with a leap of 7.24 meters (23'9”). Pratcher recorded a fourth-place result thanks to his personal record mark of 7.18 meters (23'6.75”). Benjamin Okafor finished 10th as a result of his personal record leap of 6.79 meters (22'3”).
The quartet of Mia Little, Delisser, Whitehead and Keysia Grant teamed up for a third-place finish in the women's 4x100-meter relay with a time of 46.97.
In the men's shot put, Wright again led three Catamounts in the top-10 with a third-place finish thanks to his throw of 15.66 meters (51'4.5”). Bennett placed seventh with a throw of 14.38 meters (47'2.25”) followed by Ryan Eldridge in eighth with a throw of 13.62 meters (44'8.25”).
Nikolaou tallied her second top-five finish of the day, taking fifth place in the women's 800-meter run with a personal record time of 2:13.28.
Whitehead scored a fifth-place finish in the women's 400-meter dash, completing her lap in a personal record 55.20.
Feggett finished in sixth place in the men's 100-meter dash at 10.62.
Kinley Drummonds tied for seventh in the women's pole vault as she cleared a height of 3.61 meters (11'10”). Carter Unger finished in eighth place as she cleared a personal record 3.46 meters (11'4.25”).
In the women's shot put, Lesleigh Tabor finished in seventh place with a throw of 13.31 meters (43'8”). Amy Yarborough's personal record toss of 12.89 meters (42'3.5”) landed her in eighth place.
WCU had two top-10 finishers in the women's discus, led by Victoria Solheim in seventh with her personal record throw of 40.25 meters (134'0”). Tabor finished in 10th place with a throw of 34.99 meters (114'9”).
Three Catamounts finished in the top 10 of the men's high jump, led by Dakota Oxendine in seventh with a height of 2.0 meters (6'6.75”). Tyler Hanks finished in eighth place as he cleared a personal record height of 1.95 meters (6'4.75”) and Brandon Harvey finished in 10th place after clearing the bar at 1.95 meters (6'4.75”) as the number of attempts determined the finishing order.
In the men's 4x100-meter relay, Mike Jones, Feggett, Dale and Josh Little finished in seventh place with a time of 41.67.
Albrecht crossed the finish line in eighth place in the men's 800-meter run with a season-best time of 1:54.26.
Jones finished eighth in the men's 110-meter hurdles with a time of 14.72.
The Catamounts will compete in the lone home meet of the season, the Catamount Classic, on Friday and Saturday.
