Charleston, WV - A change of plans and change of travel direction didn't phase the Bluefield State track and field teams this weekend, leading to a pair of strong team finishes and numerous personal best marks at the University of Charleston Golden Eagle Invitational. On Friday morning, the teams were just miles from reaching their scheduled competition site at North Carolina A&T State University in Greensboro, NC, when B-State's coaches learned the host institution was cancelling its competition due to expected poor weather. A quick pivot to the north and some shuffled traveled plans turned into an excellent performance at Charleston, WV's historic Laidley Field.
The Big Blue responded well to the amended opportunity, taking second place in the men's invitational behind host Charleston and third in the women's meet, behind Charleston and runner-up Ohio University.
"I've coached for a long time, and have never experienced a weekend like this one," B-State Head Coach Brooks Rexroat said. "To have one meet cancelled just hours from the start, and then to try to sort out a different competition and make sure we got these athletes into a meet this week—it was wild. We're deeply grateful to the coaches and timing crew at Charleston for allowing such a last-minute adjustment: track and field registrations are generally done well ahead of the meet, and they went above and beyond to work with our team. Our staff put in some tremendous, quick work to make the change happen, our athletes handled the adjustments better than we could have imagined, and we came home absolutely delighted with the performances all-around."
The squads saw several athletes make their outdoor track and field debuts for B-State, and team members moving up within the NCAA Division II Atlantic Region Rankings and the USCAA national ranking table.
"Both our men's and women's teams are doing some nice things within the USCAA and also the NCAA regional standings. Last week, our men and women both entered the regional rankings for the first time in program history, and we expect to move past a couple of additional teams when the updated rankings come out later this week," Rexroat said.
The B-State women's team was sparked by the throws and hurdling groups.
Beyonka Lee had a big day in all three throwing disciplines, besting her career marks in the shot put, discus, and hammer throw to place in all three events. Teammates Oliviah Green (discus) and Coraly Dupree (shot put) also turned in scoring marks.
"The throws were probably the deepest and most skilled event groups at this meet, and our athletes stood up well against the field," Rexroat said. "We were pleased with the entire group. And our hurdlers continued to do what's become expected week-in and week-out, which is to lead the competition individually and as a group."
Khrisalyn Kegler won the 100m hurdles and 400m hurdles, finishing more than a second ahead of the nearest competitor in both races. Teammate Arianna Wickliff took fourth in both races, while Raelyn Vadala took fifth in the 100-meter hurdles and sixth in the 400-meter hurdle race. Kayla Havens took fifth at 400-meters and sixth at 100-meters.
Havens also made her B-State debut in the jumping pits, taking a third-place finish in the triple Jump. Rori Cox made her B-State track and field debut, finishing fifth in the high jump. Vadala took seventh in the long jump and eighth in the high jump.
B-State's 4X100-meter relay team of Havens, Kegler, Vadala, and Cox set a new program record of 52.33 seconds and finished in third place on the day.
"That was a strong all-around performance by the women, from the start to the close of the meet," Rexroat said.
The B-State men were keyed by strong performances in the jumping events.
"These guys continue to be fantastic in their preparation, in the competition, and in the way they're progressing technically," Rexroat said of the B-State jumps squad.
Darius Brown won the long jump, finished second in the triple jump, and took fourth in the high jump. Dieuvens Lebreton tied for second in the high jump, took third and the long jump and finished fourth in the high jump. Trevor Nefe placed fifth in the long jump and sixth in both the high jump and triple jump.
In the sprints, Joey Isaacs (fourth) and Bryant Welch (seventh) both scored points in the 100-meter dash, while Isaacs turned in a new lifetime best in the 200m at 22.70 seconds to edge past teammate McKinley Pennix, who took sixth. In the 400-meter dash, Pennix took fourth and Jalen Jones finished sixth.
The middle-distance crew had a nice day, as well. Austin Sigman and Tyler Davis both saw big drops in the lifetime best marks, finishing fourth and fifth in the 800-meter run.
In the hurdles, Ben Walker took a pair of third-place finishes in the 110-meter and 400-meter distances. Trevor Nefe (fourth) and Welch (fifth) also racked up points for B-State.
In the throwing circles, Myles Rice took fourth in the shot put and Dominic Escamilla finished fourth in the discus. Escamilla also took seventh in the shot put and eighth in the hammer throw. Sherman Franklin took seventh in both the hammer and discus, and finished eighth in the shot put.
"That was a good, well-rounded effort for both squads," Rexroat said. "We dusted off our short relay teams, which hadn't competed in a few weeks, and we had a few athletes test out some new events as we consider the point tables and what it'll take to move toward the top of the USCAA national meet in a few weeks. Everyone did what we needed from
them and then a bit more, so we continue to be pleased with the success and the growth and the individual and collective ambition this group has."
B-State concludes its regular season on Friday, April 4 at the Concord University Alumni Invitational. Running and jumping events will be held on Concord's campus, while throwing events will be contested nearby at Pikeview High School.
