|
Monday, 30 January 2012 22:54 |
 Junior Alex Taylor leads the Appalahian pack during the 3000-meter run at Saturday’s finals at the Niswoger Open hosted by East Tennessee State University. Taylor set a personal best time in the event.
The Appalachian men’s track and field team made its way to East Tennessee State University this weekend and put 16 athletes in the top seven finishers.
“This is the meet where we’ve started to jump into the indoor really well,” head coach John Weaver said. “We’ve got some kids winning their events, so that shows we’ve got some good things going on.”
The Mountaineers kicked off Friday night with sophomore Jamal Tiller winning the triple jump, with a season best. Fellow triple jumper and sophomore Patrick Hill finished in sixth place with another season best.
In the weight throw, junior Jared Stalling put himself in a fourth place finish with a 60-1.25 throw. On Saturday, Stalling won the shot put with a personal best.
Senior high jumper Darius Purcell kept on the up and up, taking first after clearing 6-10.75 in his event. Freshman Daryl Saunders finished third in the high jump.
In the pole vault, freshman Jacob Stowe took third place, clearing 15-1.
The distance team was strong Saturday afternoon, dominating both the 3000-meter and the mile.
Junior Alex Taylor grabbed first in the 3000-meter run with a personal best of 8:24.93, bumping him into ASU’s record book at sixth all-time. Sophomore Will Raby finished in fourth and senior Brain Graves took seventh.
Senior Chris Moen stepped out in his seasonal mile debut, taking first place in 4:12.55.
“It was just what I wanted to do - just break the ice and get a good race in,” Moen said. “The team’s doing really well. We had a lot of guys in the 3000 and the energy’s really positive and things are going forward.”
Junior Michael Lilley finished in fifth place in the 5000-meter and freshman Raphael Rojas finished in seventh in the 800-meter.
Senior AJ Dohanic and freshman Stanley Broaden took fifth and sixth place in the 60-meter hurdles.
ASU came in fifth in the 4x400-meter relay with a team of David Riddleberger, Dohanic, Broaden, and Tyler Combs.
The men’s team will travel to Penn State Feb. 4 for the Sykes-Sabock Challenge Cup.
Story: LEIGH ROBERTS, Senior Sports Reporter
|
