Impressive Start to 2017
This weekend the men’s track & field team competed in their first Indoor meet of 2017. They competed in the WVU Open. Similar to the first meet at WVU, the meet was fairly small but a good one coming off a month away from competition. There were 6 other men’s college teams and 2 club teams competing at the meet (only 2 of the college teams were NCAA Division III).
The majority of the athletes competed in their usual events, but some of the men participated in events that were new to them. Coach Luy said the idea behind this was to “use the meet to get some people out of their comfort zone, trying some different events as we build toward championships.” The athletes pushed through their events and didn’t seem to back down from the competition and that shows in the results. In total, we had 39 men who competed: 40 top-10 finishes, 26 top-5 finishes, 6 runner-up finishes, 7 event winners, 24 season bests, and 19 PRs.
In the Distance events:
Freshman Jacob Rickards finished in the top-10 in two events. Rickards took 3rd in the 800m with a season best time of 2:07.90. Earlier in the day, he finished the mile in 6th place with a time of 4:57.57.
Lorenzo Wilson made his collegiate track debut in the 800. He ran a 2:15.13 to finish in 7th place.
Teammates Robbie Romano and Xavier Alvarez ran the 3k. This was Romano’s first track meet of the year. He took 3rd place and ran a time of 9:43.45 – only 7 seconds off his PR set last Indoor season. Alvarez finished in 7th place in 10:40.00.
In the 5k our men took 2-3-4. Freshman Timmy Wolodkin led the way again, running 18:21.18 to finish in 2nd. Teammate Matt Whitley finished 3 seconds behind Wolodkin to finish in 3rd place. Sophomore distance runner Zach Talbert was the next FSU runner across the line. He ran a time of 19:49.84 and was the 4th place finisher.
In the Jumps:
Junior Collin Schultz took home the win in the high jump. The winning height was 1.85m (6’0.75”) – which he cleared on his 2nd attempt.
We went 1-2 in the long jump. Kevon Adams grabbed the win in the event, while Shamar Nelson finished runner-up. Nelson took 2nd place with a PR of 6.48 meters (21’3.25”) – which he achieved on his first jump.
Freshman Xavier Trimble took 5th in the long jump with a centimeter college PR (5.98m/19’7.5”). Later on in the meet, he finished runner-up in the triple jump with a leap of 12.49m (40’11.75”).
Sophomore Christian Healey made his season debut in the jumps. He took 5th in the long jump – jumping 5.97m (19’7”) on his final attempt of prelims. He came back to win the triple jump with a PR of 13.07m (42’10.75”) – again hitting his best distance on his final attempt of prelims.
Freshman Kevin Hedgeman cleared opening height (3.05m/10’) in the pole vault to finish 5th.
In the Sprints:
7 men competed in the 60m dash
Kevon Adams, Kevin McCarthy and Shamar Nelson qualified for the finals. Nelson ended up winning the race with a PR of 7.23. Teammate McCarthy ran a 7.29 to finish 3rd overall.
Malik Harris ran a 7.58 to take 10th place.
10 men competed in the 200m dash
Just like the first meet, we took 1-2. Adams took 1st, while teammate McCarthy sprinted in right behind to finish in 2nd place (23.69).
Senior Hossein Hakimi ran a season best 24.05 to take 4th place.
Freshman Devante Mills ran his first 200 and finished in the top-10. He crossed the finish line in 8th place with a time of 24.48.
2 men competed in the 400m dash
Mills ran almost a 12 second PR – taking 4th overall with a time of 56.53.
Danny Locklear ran a season best (59.59) to take 9th place.
6 men competed in the 500 meters
Hakimi took the win in the event. His winning time was 1:11.86.
Teammates Dave Homce (1:14.82), Tyriek Charles (1:15.60), and Brad Forster (1:16.66) took 3-4-5 respectively.
Freshman Kolbey Barnes rounded out the top-10 finishers in the event. He came across the finish line with a time of 1:19.02, taking 7th place overall.
We had 2 relay teams in the 4x400. The A team of Mills, Charles, McCarthy, and Hakimi crossed the finish line with a winning time of 3:39.82. The time was 4 seconds faster than their winning time at the first West Virginia meet.
In the throws:
Donovan Burriss took 2nd place in shot put behind a career-best throw of 13.26m (43’6”).
Senior Kashaud Bowman and freshman John Kerns made it to the finals of shot put. Bowman threw a season best 12.39m (40’7.75”), taking 6th place. Kerns made it to the finals on an impressive power throw of 12.37m (40’7”). That was his best throw of the meet, giving him a 7th place finish.
Freshman Mason Whetstone had an outstanding day. He took 10th in the shot put, behind a big PR. Going into the meet, Whetstone’s PR was 10.58m (34’8.5”) – after the meet his new PR was 11.75m (38’6.75”). He also had close to a 2 meter PR in the weight throw.
Senior Patrick Broussoul took runner-up in the weight throw on his 2nd attempt of the meet with a distance of 14.37m (47’1.75”).
Senior Keith Oelschlaeger and freshman Erik Blautzik were the only other FSU athletes who made it into the finals for the weight throw. Oelschlaeger grabbed 6th place with a throw of 12.32m (40’5”), while Blautzik took 7th behind a PR throw of 12.21m (40’0.75”).
Sophomore Mike Harley threw 10.42m (34’2.25”) and took home 10th place.
Standout performances:
Freshman Kevon Adams had another standout performance. Not only did he excel in his sprint events, but also in the long jump. He started the day with a win in the long jump - doing so on his final jump of finals (surpassing teammate Shamar Nelson). His jump of 6.59m (21’7.5”) was a PR and he is now sitting 3rd in the conference and 45th in NCAA Division III. After the long jump, he competed in the prelims of the 60 meter dash. He ran the fastest time in the qualifying round – 7.16. Unfortunately we didn’t get to see if he could improve on that time, because he false started in the finals. His day finished with the 200 meter dash. He added another win on the day, crossing the line ahead of all the other competitors with a time of 23.58. After an impressive day, Adams is currently ranked in the top-10 for all 3 of his events in the Capital Athletic Conference.
CAC Standings:
60m dash
Kevon Adams – 5th
Shamar Nelson – 9th
200m dash
Kevon Adams – 10th
4x400m relay team – 5th
Long Jump
Kevon Adams – 3rd
Shamar Nelson – 5th
Triple Jump
Christian Healey – 3rd
Shot Put
Donovan Burriss – 4th
Kashaud Bowman – 10th
Weight Throw
Patrick Broussoul – 3rd
PRs:
Kevon Adams – 60m (7.32 -> 7.16)
Kevon Adams – Indoor 200m (23.76 -> 23.58)
Kevon Adams – Indoor Long Jump (6.27m -> 6.59m)
Kolbey Barnes – Indoor 200m (25.62 -> 25.00)
Erik Blautzik – Weight Throw (10.27m -> 12.21m)
Patrick Broussoul – Weight Throw (13.29m -> 14.37m)
Donovan Burriss – Indoor Shot Put (13.23m -> 13.26m)
His throw was also an overall PR.
Christian Healey – Indoor Triple Jump (12.42m -> 13.07m)
His jump was also an overall PR.
Danny Locklear – Indoor 200m (26.31 -> 26.11)
Devante Mills – 400m (1:08.02 -> 56.53)
James Naill – Indoor Shot Put (8.82m -> 9.69m)
Shamar Nelson – 60m (7.26 -> 7.23)
Shamar Nelson – Indoor Long Jump (6.37m -> 6.48m)
Xavier Trimble – 60m (7.76 -> 7.59)
Xavier Trimble – Indoor Long Jump (5.97m -> 5.98m)
Brian Webb – 60m (7.87 -> 7.70)
Brian Webb – Indoor 200m (25.92 -> 25.83)
Mason Whetstone – Indoor Shot Put (10.58m -> 11.75m)
Mason Whetstone – Weight Throw (7.05m -> 8.92m)**Congratulations to all that set PRs after a month of no competitions!
Coach Luy’s Top-10:
Kevon Adams – 1st in Long Jump (6.59m/21’7.5”)
Christian Healey – 1st in Triple Jump (13.07m/42’10.75”)
Shamar Nelson – 2nd in Long Jump (6.48m/21’3.25”)
Patrick Broussoul – 4th in Weight Throw (14.37m/47’1.75”)
Donovan Burriss – 4th in Shot Put (13.26m/43’6”)
Kevon Adams – tied for 5th in 60m (7.16)
Shamar Nelson – tied for 9th in 60m (7.23)
Erik Blautzik – 10th in Weight Throw (12.21m/40’0.75”)
The team returns to competition at the Orange & Maroon Classic hosted by Susquehanna University on Saturday, January 21st. The field events begin at 9:30am and the running events start at 10:00am.
