Buckhannon, WV - Four Bluefield State athletes earned five individual event wins Friday at the Brandi Bowen/Jasmine Claggett Memorial Invitational co-hosted by West Virginia Wesleyan College and Glenville State University, resulting in a second-place team finish for the B-State women and a third-place finish for the men.
Despite steadily driving rain and bitterly cold winds, the Big Blue squads combined to establish or break 20 school records during the team's outdoor season opener.
"I absolutely love how we opened the season," said B-State Head Coach Brooks Rexroat. "This is the sort of gross, uncomfortable day when teams have to make a choice: do we pack it in and mope and do the bare minimum, or do we go at it with a little grit and determination and really compete? I've seen teams do both, and we really went out and set a great tone. The times and marks were solid and those will continue to improve, but I'm really encouraged by the way we went after it. That's a great way to start a season, and that's the personality we want this team to embody."
Dieuvens Lebreton (high jump, long jump), Oliviah Green (javelin), Darius Brown (triple jump), and Emma Flynn (5-kilometer run) won their events, while Beyonka Lee finished as the top collegiate athlete in the women's hammer and shot put and second overall in both events.
"This meet was a great way to gauge where we sit: last year, this was our first outdoor meet as a program, and it's good to get tangible reminders of our growth. Our men scored 14.5 points last year, and 140 today. Our women scored 56 points last year and 169 today. This was the best point total for both the men's and women's squads since beginning the program last year, the best overall team finish for both teams, and a nice image of both our quality at the moment and our opportunities to keep getting better."
In the sprints, Joey Isaacs established a pair of school records in the 100 and 200 meter dashes, and Ben Walker established a new mark in the 110m high hurdles. Khrisalyn Kegler earned a pair of school record marks, leading a trio of solid B-State performers in the women's 100 hurdles and a quartet of entries in the 400m intermediate hurdles. Kegler took fourth in the sprint hurdles, follower by Kayla Havens and Arianna Wickliff in fifth and sixth. Kegler finished third in the 400m hurdles, followed By Raelyn Vadala (fourth), Havens (seventh) and Wickliff (eighth).
In the women's sprints, Lillie Shinaberry took fourth in the 100-meter dash while Kaycee Coty took eighth. Shinaberry was fifth in the 200-meter dash, while Coty was seventh. BriShaela McHaney took fourth in the 400-meter dash.
"We were missing some folks in the sprints and hurdles this week as we work back from some bumps and bruises, but those we put on the track had strong days," Rexroat said. "I like what we saw from a mechanical perspective. We had some hiccups and a false start that should be a good learning experience, but this group is set up for a lot of success this season."
In the jumps, Lebreton's winning performance in the long jump established a new B-State record, while Vadala set a new standard in the women's long jump. Vadala took second place in both the long and triple jump, while Kateryna Dashevska finished fourth in both events.
"We limited our number of jumps a bit to err on the side of safety, but the prep, the execution, and the competitive instinct we showed was really nice as the jumping competitions played out," Rexroat said.
The men's throwing records were completely re-written despite ankle-deep mud and standing water in the throwing circles all day long, and constant challenges in gripping damp implements.
"The throwers really got the brunt of the weather, and they went non-stop all day with hardly a break," Rexroat said. "They battled and put together some really nice marks. I'm encouraged by what we saw and excited by what's to come as the season progresses."
Myles Rice topped the existing shot put record by nearly a meter, while Dominic Escamilla set new standards in the discus and hammer throw. One the women's side, Lee topped the school record in the hammer throw.
B-State was particularly successful in the javelin, where BSU women took six of the top eight spots and the men took four of the top eight. Behind champion Green, Alixe VanCraenbroeck, Rylee Truslow, Lee, Bianka Zeitvogel, and Rachel Major all earned points for the Big Blue. Escamilla finished second in the men's competition, joined in the scoring table by Lebreton, Sherman Franklin, and Rice.
Fielding distance event competitors for the first time in program history, the Big Blue got a fresh set of school standards to build off as the season continues. Austin Sigman established new marks in the 800-meter run, where he finished second and was followed closely by teammate Tyler Davis third and also in the 1,500-meter run, where he finished seventh. Davis earned a point for the Big Blue in the 3,000-meter steeplechase and established an initial B-State record in doing so.
On the women's side freshman Emma Flynn took the individual title in the 5,000-meter run and set a new outdoor standard, a feat she replicated with her second-place finish in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. Across the sports of cross country, indoor track, and outdoor track, Flynn now holds 10 Bluefield State school records.
Lou Periquet turned in a third-place finish in the women's 1,500, setting a new B-State Standard. She took second in the 5-kilometer run, finishing steps behind Flynn in the three-mile race.
"The collegiate race distances are a bit of a learning curve for the mid-distance and distance group, and we thought this was a great start in that process," Rexroat said. We were fairly one-dimensional last year with a heavy focus on power events in our first season, so it represents a big step forward in our vision to build a complete and competitive squad, having these events represented at a high level with some strong finishes. That's a big boost for us as a group."
B-State won three of the four relay events contested, taking wins in the men's and women's 4X400m relay and the women's 4X100m relay, and finishing second in the men's 4X100m relay event.
Up Next
B-State continues its season next Saturday at West Virginia University, where the team will compete in the 24-team Stan Romanoski Invitational. Field events begin at noon, with running events set to begin at 2 p.m.
