NC West Virginia News

Battlers Continue to Improve Into the New Year

The Alderson Broaddus Men's and Women's Track & Field teams brought in the new year with a bang at the Pioneer Open on Friday ! The Battlers saw a school record drop, with a slew of top-8 finishes.

The women's high jump kicked off the meet, where 3 Battlers placed. Kaylie Laskody (1.45m), Nykia Fort (1.45m), and Desiree Knotts (1.40m) finished in 3rd, 5th, and 7th respitively, each tying their season bests. In the 55 meter dash, Shaam Al-Natour qualified for the finals, and placed 8th, just missing her personal best. Jada Hanson led the way in the 55 meter hurdles, running a college-best time (9.44). She finished in 4th followed by Laskody (11.35) who finished in 6th. Layla James placed 3rd in the 800 (2:32.14), while Adra Schell finished in 7th in the 3k (12:48.77), in both of the freshmen ladies first collegiate indoor meet after a long cross country season. Knotts finished 4th in the 200 (28.98) with a new lifetime-best, followed by Al-Natour (29.32) in a indoor lifetime-best time.

For the second week, the men's team stepped up to not be outdone by the women's team, with a big day in the 55 meter dash. The trio of Isaiah Jean (6.55), Devon Napier (6.56), and Calvin Blunt (6.68) finish in 1st, 2nd, and 5th. In the men's high jump, Cameron Tropeck (1.75m) was the lone jumper from AB, finishing in 4th with a new season-best. In the shot put, all three throwers went on to place in the top-8, Micah Swann (13.19m) led the way with a 4th place finish, Micah Harrison (13.15m) finished in 6th, and Cedric Carter (13.12m) in 8th in his first collegiate track meet. In the pole vault, Greysen Gerth (3.40m) finished in 4th with a new season best. In the 400, Shelton Bass (51.78) lead the way with a 1st place finish, followed by Andrew Nephew (54.14) in 4th, both finish with indoor PRs. In the 800, Nathan Jacobs (2:08.27) won his heat and finished in 4th overall, while Alexander Cockerham (10:58.44) finished in 8th in the 3k, the first collegiate track meet for the two freshmen after a long cross country season. Jean (23.28), Napier (23.34) and Bass 23.53) finished in 1st, 2nd & 4th respectively in the 200, all running faster than the fastest time anyone on the team ran last indoor season. Finishing off the day, which many will say was the highlight of the evening, was Micah Harrison (14.98m) in the weight throw. Harrison broke his own personal school record, that he broke in the very first meet of the year, twice in the prelim. He ended up finishing in 3rd place.

"Fridays meet was a good rust buster," Head Coach Paris Vaughan said. "We used the meet as another practice adn got to see where we sit against some conference competition. Even with us using this as a tune-up per say, or a welcome back from break meet, we still had a lot of PRs, and indoor college bests, along with Micah H. continuing to make history here. I am more than excited to see where we will be on two over-sized tracks, and one banked track before the conference meet in 5 weeks. These meets coming up will be eye openers for sure."

the Alderson Broaddus Track & Field teams will be back in action Friday, January 20 at the YSU Collegiate Invitational hosted by Youngstown State University. The meet is scheduled to begin at 12PM in Youngstown, OH. 

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