Lee Track Set Records At Vanderbilt, Samford

  • Sunday, January 23, 2022
Caleb Long set a Lee record with 4,218 points in the heptathlon at the Vanderbilt Invitational.
Caleb Long set a Lee record with 4,218 points in the heptathlon at the Vanderbilt Invitational.

The Lee University men’s track & field team participated in the Vanderbilt Invitational and the Samford University Open this past weekend and came away with three Lee records.

Caleb Long and Christian Noble had record-breaking performances in the heptathlon and mile run, respectively. Long finished the heptathlon in seventh with 4,218 total points. His point total surpassed Daniel Surman’s previous record of 4,023 points at the 2020 Gulf South Conference Championships.

For the second straight week, Noble lowered his record time in the mile.

After cutting 0.36 seconds off the record last week, he knocked off another 0.56 seconds to become the first in Lee history to go under four minutes with a fourth-place time of 3:59.70.

Carson Nix and Hayden Judge joined Noble in the mile run at the Vanderbilt Invitational. Nix placed sixth with a time of 4:01.15, while Judge was 15th (4:15.55). Noble and Nix each reached the provisional qualifying time of 4:10.99 and hold the top two mile times in NCAA Division II this season.

Titus Lagat finished seventh in the 800-meter run. His time of 1:50.41 was under the provisional mark of 1:52.85 and is the third-best time among DII runners.

In the 60-meter dash, Nokia Masengu was 24th in the preliminary round with a time of 7.12 seconds. Jeremiah McCain and Wynand Du Toit joined Masengu in the 200-meter dash. McCain finished 13th (22.24) with Du Toit right behind in 14th (22.32). Masengu crossed the finish line at 22.97 seconds for 24th.

McCain finished seventh in the 60-meter hurdles after stopping the clock at 8.34. He advanced out of the preliminaries with a time of 8.30 seconds.

Three Flames competed in the 5000-meter run. Will Stone placed third (14:36.99), Caleb Eagleson was fourth (14:40.07) and Casey Guthery finished sixth (14:43.97). Silas Eckenroad was Lee’s top finisher in the 3000-meter run with a time of 8:27.79 (10th). Aaron Himes placed 14th (8:34.12) and Adan Rodriguez was 18th (8:36.66).

In the Samford Open at the Birmingham CrossPlex, Ian Thomas was 10th (7.10) in the preliminaries and 15th (7.02) in the semi-finals of the 60-meter dash. He also finished eighth (22.31) in the 200, while Stacen Cunningham was 20th (22.77). Cunningham had the 19th-best time (8.68) in the preliminary round of the 60-meter hurdles. His time of 8.96 put him 18th in the semi-finals.

Caleb Guthery and Thomas Kelton competed in the 800. Guthery finished 18th (2:00.71) and Kelton was 14th (2:05.79). Kelton added a 14th-place finish in the mile with a time of 4:28.16. Jacob Hatcher covered the mile in 4:19.33 for eighth.

Lee had three athletes in the field events. Daniel Surman cleared 4.42 meters to finish second in the pole vault. Matthew Black was fourth in the weight throw with a toss of 15.78 meters. Camden Williams’ mark of 14.99 meters put him in eighth. In the shot put, Williams was seventh with a throw of 13.74 meters and Black was 17th with a measurement of 11.91 meters.

The Flames are scheduled to return to action the weekend of February 4-5 at the Camel City Invitational. The event will be held at the JDL Fast Track in Winston-Salem, N.C.

The Lee University women’s track & field team came away with two Lee records.

Liezl Theron accumulated 3,417 points to finish third in the pentathlon at the Vanderbilt Invitational. Her total passed Jordan Allison’s previous record of 3,387 points from the 2020 Gulf South Conference Championships. She also met the provisional qualifying standard with the 10th-best total of the year.

At the same time, Deborah Rubin was increasing her Lee record in the weight throw at the Samford Open in the Birmingham CrossPlex. Rubin completed the event in second place with a mark of 17.97 meters to add 0.81 meters to her previous record from last year’s Gulf South Conference Championships and meet the provisional mark.

Back in Nashville, the distance medley relay team of Toni Moore, Mikayla Beeler, Lily Hare and Celine Ritter just missed the Lee record of 11:38.54. The foursome combined for a first-place time of 11:40.06. It is the best time recorded in NCAA Division II this season and was well under the provisional standard of 12:07.33.

Ritter improved her provisional standing in the mile run. She finished fourth with a time of 4:46.99. Hare placed 12th (2:15.84) in the 800-meter run and Beeler was eighth (57.66) in the 400-meter dash.

Moore and Danielle Horter were in the 3000-meter run. Moore crossed the finish line at 10:03.26 for 11th. Horter’s time of 10:08.79 was good for 14th. Olivia McLain stopped the clock at 18:02.57 to claim third place in the 5000-meter run.

Kristen Blevins was 13th in the 60-meter dash preliminary with a time of 7.68. Blevins added a 20th-place finish in the 200-meter dash with a time stoppage of 25.54. Hannah Wright joined Blevins in the 200 and placed 24th (25.75). In the 60-meter hurdles, Wright was seventh (8.79) in the preliminaries and seventh (8.86) in the final.

In the Birmingham CrossPlex, Kyleeyah Whitehead was 15th (8.06) in the 60-meter semi-finals after recording the 13th-quickest time (7.94) in the preliminary. Jaila Whitaker was 44th (8.43) in the prelims.

Whitehead and Whitaker were joined by Janay Ryan in the 200. Ryan was 17th (26.55), Whitaker finished 22nd (26.76) and Whitehead placed 32nd (27.25). Ryan also completed the 400 in 1:01.26 for 20th.

Aria Hawkins and Phoebe Moran were Lee’s two representatives in the mile and the 800. Hawkins won the mile with a time of 5:04.13 and was sixth (2:23.48) in the 800. Moran completed the mile in 5:20.54 for fourth and was 20th in the 800 at 2:35.71.

Elizabeth Beckham was Lee’s top finisher in the 3000-meter run. She was ninth (10:45.93), while Katie Krueger finished 16th (11:10.91). Kaitlyn Sesler completed the 5000-meter run in 19:46.42 to land in fifth place.

Sydney White finished 21st in the preliminary round of the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 10.50. White was also 28th with a long jump of 4.49 meters. She cleared 1.42 meters to tie for 14th in the high jump. Devon Jackett finished fifth with a high jump of 1.52 meters.

Austyn Durham joined Rubin in the shot put and weight throw. Durham was 14th in the weight throw with a mark of 13.04 meters. She was 24th in the shot put with a throw of 9.73 meters. Rubin’s measurement of 11.82 meters put her in 10th in the shot put.

The Lady Flames are scheduled to return to action the weekend of February 4-5 at the Camel City Invitational. The event will be held at the JDL Fast Track in Winston-Salem, N.C.

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