It was another successful outing for the Gorillas this past weekend, as they hosted the Russ Jewett Indoor Classic. Both teams combined for 11 different individual event wins, seven by the men’s team and four by the women’s, as the Gorillas begin to wrap the indoor track and field season.
“I thought they did very well. They competed well as a team collectively; we had a lot of good things happen we needed to. We needed everybody to start to come together in one meet, I’m very pleased with how we competed overall,” head coach Kyle Rutledge said.
Pitt State posted victories by freshman Xavier Byers in the high jump (6-11), redshirt sophomore Greyson Smith in the pole vault (17-2), junior Tyrone Jackson in the 60-meter hurdles (7.88), redshirt freshman Griouard Weddington in the 60 meters (6.68), redshirt junior Dylan Sprecker in the mile (4:03.72), redshirt junior Jordan Kilonzo in the 800 meters (1:51.83) and the 4x400m relay of sophomore Amar Williams, junior Logan Davis, junior Caden Williams, and junior Nate Watson (3:08.20).
Other notable men’s performances included redshirt sophomore Drake Stapleton placing third in the shot put (59-6.5), redshirt sophomore Johnetheon Lockett placing third in the triple jump (49-9.75), Britton Gage placing third in the pole vault (16-6), and freshman TyQuarious Ivy placing fourth in the triple jump (48-3.5). On the track, Watson finished second in the 400 meters (46.98), sophomore Na’Kiyorian James placed third in the 60m hurdles (8.07), and junior Braylon Thompson placed third in the 60m (6.78).
“It was an amazing weekend. Went in and out of practice feeling solid, thought something good could happen, possibly just a PR or even just getting close to it. Went into Friday and just felt stellar for whatever reason,” Stapleton.
The Pitt State women recorded victories by sophomore Bethany Umbarger in the high jump (5-9.75), redshirt freshman Breanne Peters in the pole vault (13-10.5), grad student Zyra Shivers in the 60m hurdles (8.37) and junior Paige Mullen in the mile 4:52.18. Peters logged a PR with her winning clearance.
Notable women’s performances included sophomore Lily Brown placing second in the triple jump (39-4.75), junior Jazmine Williamson placing third in the high jump (5-8.5) and redshirt seniors Isabelle Peters placing third in the pole vault (13-2.75). On the track, sophomore Kayvon Nubine finished second in the 60m hurdles (8.38), sophomore Hannah Gibson finished second in the mile (4:52.34) and redshirt freshman McKinlee Walker finished third in the 60m hurdles (8.55).
“It feels great, we have got a really good coaching staff, and a lot of really great athletes, and it’s just fun to be a part of that and contribute to the team,” Umbarger said.
The Gorillas will return to the track on Friday, as they return to Fayetteville for the Arkansas Qualifier. This will be one last tune up for Pitt State before they prepare to host the MIAA championships the following weekend.