CHARLESTON, West Virginia -- The Bluefield State women's and men's track and field teams competed in the Golden Eagle Invitational Saturday, April 16.
Freshman Abbey Puckett tied for first in the high jump and finished second in the triple jump to pace the Bluefield State women. Landry Palata finished second in the triple jump to pace the Big Blue men at the University of Charleston Golden Eagle Invitational Saturday.
In all, seven athletes competed for the B-State, tallying a combined 15 career-best marks, and landed on the awards podium nine times.
"Across a decade of coaching, this is probably the most roundly pleased I've ever been with a team at the end of a competition," said Bluefield State Head Track and Field Coach Brooks Rexroat. "Everyone improved. We're winning events, we're scoring points, we're getting better every day. It was a fantastic meet for us."
Juniors Caely Pickerd (seventh) and Sydney Billington (eighth) both placed in the women's shot put, and Billington finished seventh in the hammer throw with a new career-best mark of 37.74 meters.
"The throwers had a strong day all across the board," Rexroat said. "Our women continue to find the awards podium and grow in their craft. The men—Zack Pennington and Thomas Smith—ran into a buzzsaw at Charleston, with a few of the top collegiate throwers on the east coast present, as well as some unattached post-collegiate throwers. This was a great opportunity not only to improve ourselves—which we did—but also to observe some of the best in the country and see what it's going to take to get where we'd like to be as a group."
Puckett, who has now broken or set school records in 19 events across the 2021-2022 cross country, indoor track, and outdoor track seasons, also placed sixth in the 400m dash (62.46) and seventh in the 100m dash (12.87).
"We're preparing Abbey for work as a heptathlete next year, and she continues to show broad talent across a number of event areas. Her mindset, her resilience, and the way she's improved herself physically throughout this year—she's an exceptional athlete with an intensely bright future."
Puckett's first career attempt at the high jump netted a leap of 1.55 meters, which places her 16th among NCAA Division II Atlantic Region competitors this season. Her triple jump performance of 10.49 meters was a nearly four-foot improvement over her previous best and placed her in the 28th spot on the Atlantic Region leader board.
Palata, a dual-sport athlete who starts for the Big Blue basketball team, began his collegiate track and field career with immediate success. He placed sixth in the high jump with a leap of 1.85 meters during the morning session, then put on a show in his first-ever attempt at the triple jump.
His mark of 13.26 meters was good for second in the competition, and he now sits at number 23 in the NCAA Division II Atlantic Region. His high jump performance is tied for number 29 regionally.
Freshman Trevor Nefe saw a huge drop in time in the 400-meter hurdles, good for a ninth-place finish on the day.
As the season draws near to a close, the contest offered both a measuring stick heading into the team's final competition at Concord on April 22 as well as a glimpse at the future.
"It was a great day all around, but I think my favorite moment, was seeing one of our class of '22 signees in attendance, getting to know the team, and creating those connections that we want to instill as part of the culture here. Seeing that happen organically was a big indicator of what we're moving toward: our team setting a foundation and preparing to welcome new members next season as we grow in volume to supplement the quality we've seen this year."
Up Next...
The Big Blue track and field teams will wrap up their season Friday at the Concord Invitational. The javelin starts at 2 p.m. and will be contested at nearby PikeView High School, while the remainder of the events will begin at 3 p.m. in Callaghan Stadium on Concord's campus.
