HARRISONBURG, Va. – Averett University track and field highlights fantastic day at EMU's Heritage Invitational on Friday with four event wins.
Originally scheduled for Friday and Saturday, weather shifted EMU's meet to one busy Friday slate. The Cougars packed the podium throughout the packed meet day.
The Cougars' women started the day off on the right foot, setting the tone early on with a strong performance in the women's 4x100 relay. The team of junior Cassidy Lewis, sophomore Leah Brethren, senior Saida Bangura, and sophomore Haily Juhasz combined to finish the event in second-place with a time of 52.17s. Sophomore Gabrielle Griffin ran next for Averett's women, entering into the women's 1500m for her first action of the day. Griffin placed sixth, running across the line in 5:28.14.
Juhasz crouched into the starting blocks next for the Cougars and posted a spectacular result. Juhasz ran in the women's 100m dash, and pulled away from the competition to secure the Cougars' first victory of the day, finishing in 12.92s. Juhasz performed well in her next opportunity as well, placing sixth in the women's 400m with a time of 1:06.80. The Cougars' two-sport star turned in one final performance, earning a seventh-place finish in the women's 200m dash, posting a time of 28.53s to close out her solid day.
Griffin finalized the women's time on track with an exclamation point. Griffin earned a victory in the women's 5k, gapping the field by 15 seconds en route to taking home the gold, finishing with a time of 19:02.36
The men's team turned in a solid performance to rival the solid day from the women. Freshman Hunter Moss kicked off the day with a good effort in the men's 1500m. Moss placed seventh thanks to a time of 4:30.64. Fifth year Nick Andrews began his strong day of work in the men's 100m dash. Another two-sport star for for Averett, Andrews sprinted his way to second-place with a time of 11.04s.
Junior Kevin Grimshaw paced the Cougars' men in the first mid-distance event of the day. Grimshaw ran in the men's 400m run and placed 10th with a time of 54.62s. Sophomore Azael Quintero followed suit in the men's 800m. Quintero posted a time of 2:12.40 to come away in sixth-place.
Andrews stepped into the starting blocks yet again, this time for the men's 200m sprint. Andrews secured yet another podium spot, placing third thanks to a time of 22.90s. The men's 4x400m relay followed next on the day's slate of events. The Cougars' team of senior Christopher Brown, Quintero, junior Jay Davis, and Grimshaw placed second with a time of 2:52.33.
Moss took to the track for the Cougars' final run of the day and shined in doing so. Averett's fast freshman ran to victory in the men's 5K. Moss turned in a sub 16-minute mile, finishing in 15:57.54 as the Cougars swept the days' longest runs.
The men's team turned in a solid performance in field events as well. Junior Carter Erickson led the Cougars in the men's shot put and men's discus. Erickson placed 13th in shot put with a throw of 10.38m, and 12th in discus with a throw of 30.05m. Andrews earned yet another top-10 finish on the day in the men's long jump. Andrews posted a jump of 5.72m to come away eighth in the event.
Sophomore Carlota Gonzalez led the Cougars' women in the day's field events. Gonzalez, Averett's javelin ace, lived up to the title on Friday. Gonzalez earned victory in the women's javelin with a throw of 36.91m.
Of note, Friday's meet marked the very first hosted at EMU's new track and field facility. As such, all event wins also are track records and the first victories at EMU's facility.
The Cougars have a couple weeks to rest on their laurels before springing back into action. The Old Dominion Athletic Conference Outdoor Championships are next up, set to get underway on Friday, April 25.
