Virginia Beach, VA – On Saturday morning, the Regent University Men's and Women's Track & Field teams opened up the Outdoor Season at the Virginia Wesleyan Spring Break Invite. With the Indoor Season behind them, the Royals were eager to venture outside and capitalize on the momentum they established during the winter.
Juniors Donovan Allen (Manasas, VA) and Kevin Cropper (Oak Hall, VA) started the day advancing out of their heats and into the Finals of the Long Jump. Allen would finish 7th overall with a jump of 6.30M, while Cropper finished 8th with a jump of 6.06M. They would do it again in the Triple Jump by earning a spot in the finals as Cropper set a personal record to finish 6th with a jump of 13.23M, while Allen finished 7th with a jump of 12.43M. In addition, Freshman Jacob Winck (Breezewood, PA) set a school record in the Men's 110M Hurdles with a time of 17.27 and a personal record in the 400M running 53.32. Meanwhile, in the Women's 400M Hurdles, Freshman Sophia Moritz (Virginia Beach, VA) set a school record with a time of 1:08.43 to win the event and qualify for the NCCAA National Championships. In the Women's 100M Hurdles, Moritz set a personal record in the Women's 100M Hurdles with a time of 16.98. That time was good enough to win her Heat by four seconds and finish 4th overall in the event. Sophomore Shylah Wells (Youngsville, NC) also competed in the 100M Hurdles finishing with a time of 22.95, while also competing in the Women's Long Jump, recording a distance of 4.06M.
Running in her first race this year, Freshman Ariana Jones (Chesapeake, VA) set a personal record in the Women's 100M with a time of 15.22 and another personal record in the 200M with a time 33.24. In addition, Freshman Adam Baugus (Virginia Beach, VA) finished with a time of 12.59 in the Men's 100M and a time of 26.19 in the Men's 200M. Both times were personal records. In the distance category, Freshman Thomas Slingluff (Suffolk, VA) set personal records in the Men's 1500M (4:29.15) and the Men's 5000M (17:25.66), while Senior Anna Wade (Stafford, VA) and Freshman Samantha Bodnar (Calgary, Alberta, Canada) set their own personal records in the 5000M with times of 23:00.53 and 23:23.93.
Rounding out the day were more field events, beginning with the Javelin Throw. Junior Lucas Hubbard (Newtown, PA) led the way with a throw of 34.14M, and was followed by Junior Ernest Park III (Bentonville, AR) at 29.42M, Sophomore Aidan Kingsborough (Clarkston, WA) with a personal record of 28.95 and Junior Evan Pond (Powhatan, VA) with a throw of 22.49M. The same four also competed in the Discus Throw with Pond leading the way at 29.90M, Kingsborough, who set another personal record, at 26.75M, Park with his own personal record of 26.05M and Hubbard with a throw of 25.49M. The day concluded with the Men's Shot Put, as Kingsborough reached the finals with a throw of 10.87M, while Park finished at 9.72M and Freshman Jaxon Sawyer (Virginia Beach, VA) finished with a personal record of 6.84M.
Regent will be back in action on Saturday, March 29th, when they travel to Newport News to compete in the CNU Blue and Silver Challenge.
