Courtesy of Newberry College Athletics
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — The Newberry College men’s and women’s track and field teams got off to a roaring start in Sunday’s COROS Collegiate Challenge at the JDL Fast Track in Winston-Salem, N.C.
Five – count them, five – school records were broken during the meet, including two from the same category. Freshman Jalen Crumpton (Columbia) and senior Kalyn Cook (Lexington) each broke the previous 60-meter record time for the men’s team at Newberry (6.93 seconds), as Crumpton ran a 6.88, and Cook a 6.91. They took home second and third in their race, and Crumpton’s time was only .02 seconds from hitting the national qualifying mark.
Junior Sarah Abumere (Waynesboro, Ga.) was able to match her own 60m record on Sunday, running a 7.76 to earn first-place in the finals. Freshman Janiyah Gardner’s long jump of 5.45-meters (17 feet, 10.75 inches) was another of the college’s records set, giving her a second-place finish overall.
“I’m proud of how our team competed in their season debut today. We had school records, numerous PRs, and moved into some top spots of the conference. We still have areas we need to improve, but we are definitely headed in the right direction,” said Mashario Morton, head men’s and women’s track and field coach.
Freshman newcomer Steven Phan cleared the bar with a 3.45-meter pole vault (11 feet, 3.75 inches) for another Newberry record, while sophomore Irma Watson-Perez’s 15.77-meter weight throw – almost 52 feet – topped the SAC Conference Performance List for women and earned her a second-place result. Sophomore Andrea Pascual-Rivera’s 14.36-meter throw (47 feet, 1.5 inches) put her second amongst SAC competitors. Both Watson-Perez and Pascual-Rivera sit atop the SAC Performance List, in positions one and two, respectively.
For the men’s weight throwers, sophomore Jase Hunter (McDonough, Ga.) and junior Parker Pitts (Prosperity) swept the top two spots, with throws of 16.49 meters (54 feet, 1.25 inches) and 16.43 meters (53 feet, 11 inches), respectively. Hunter and Pitts also sit atop the SAC Performance list after competing in just their first indoor meet.