LYNCHBURG, Va. -The NC Wesleyan College men's and women's track and field teams competed Saturday in the Dennis Craddock Coaches Classic in Lynchburg.
The meet was full of improved performances from all the athletes and gave NCWC the opportunity to compete against some of the top talent in D1, D2, D3, and JUCO as each runner stepped up and ran new personal bests and set new school records in a variety of events.
The women started their day with sophomores Toni Foster and Sidnie Parks participating in the Long Jump. They both performed well with their college-best performance. Foister set a mark of 3.9 meters which was an improvement from last week as she currently holds the 2nd best mark in the school's history. Parks then got her 1st jump of her college career with a measurement of 3.37 meters.
"She made huge strides in her approach to the jumping board, as she has competed at track meets previously this season, but was not able to get in a successful jump," said head coach Marshall Leonard. "This week, both women showed significant improvement from last week."
Sophomore Teanna Bellamy competed in the 400 meters race and she came out and ran a solid race, with a time of 1:02.54 to place 11th out of 30. This performance matched her time from last week and she currently holds the 3rd fastest time in the conference.
"She has the ability to compete for the conference championships and leave the meet as a champion," commented Coach Leonard. "We are excited about the potential that she has and we are looking to help her be the best 400 meter runner that she can be."
Junior Alyssa Donaldson also ran the 800 meters in 3:19 to palce 39th overall.
The Javelin throw was competed in by freshman Sarah Waters and she stepped up and threw a personal best mark of 20.3 meters which was an improvement over last week to place 24th.
"She has improved every meet that she has participated in, which is a result of her hard work every weekday in practice," commented coach Leonard. "She currently is the 2nd best thrower in school's history and has a lot of room for improvement as she is just a freshman."
The day was concluded by 2 women completing the 3000 meter Steeplechase. Sophomore Snejana Spinache (6th place in 15:04) and freshman Catalina Hermosa (8th in 16:22) both raced in this event and finished with the top 2 performances in school history and currently hold the 2nd and 3rd fastest times in the conference.
"This was the first time these women ran in this race and they stepped up and challenged themselves by running a race that is outside of their comfort zone. This race has them jumping over 4 hurdle barriers each lap, with one having a water hole that they must jump over or land inside it. "I am proud of how they competed and ran a race that was challenging."
The women will next compete at the USA South Championships in Brevard, NC on April 28.