Flashes Earn Three Wins on Day One of Akron Invitational
2/5/2021 9:53:00 PM | Men's Track & Field, Women's Track & Field
AKRON, Ohio - Kent State returned to action Friday night in day one of the Akron Invitational and nearly saw a school record broken en route to winning three events.
In her second collegiate meet, freshman Leah Pasqualetti won the women's pole vault with a height of 13' 6¼". She attempted to clear 13' 10 ¼", which would have been a new school record, but in the end, she moves to third in the school record book. Sami Ice cleared a season-best bar of 12' 0 ½ to tie for third.
Grace Tennant continued her strong start to the season, winning her third straight shot put title with a throw of 53' 2 ¾", a personal best that moves her to fifth all-time at Kent State. She was joined in the top three by Gabby Bailey who finished with a mark of 46' 1 ½".
Jake Wickey picked up another win as well, tossing 69' 3" to win the men's weight throw by almost six feet. The win was his second of the year.
In the men's heptathlon, Alexander Shields and Jacob Mally combined to win three of the four events on day one. Shields won the heptathlon 60-meter dash and long jump and took second in the high jump, while Mally took first in the high jump and second in the 60m dash and long jump. After day one, Shields leads the heptathlon with 2971 points with Mally 100 points behind in second. The heptathlon concludes tomorrow with to 60-meter hurdles, pole vault, and 1,000-meter run.
The Golden Flashes also earned multiple second and third place finishes Friday night. On the women's side, Leah Lisle took second in the women's 5,000-meter run with a personal best time of 18:11.70. She was followed to the line by Maddie Dunlap who finished in 18:11.36 to pick up the bronze medal.
Asa Hodrick continued his solid start to the season, setting a personal best in the 60m dash (8.61) to finish second. He also earned a silver medal in the 200-meter dash with a time of 21.34. In the 200m dash, Dejon Manning set a personal best of 21.64 to finish third for Kent State.
Rounding out the list of top three finishers for the men is Drew Johnson, who finished third in the one mile run with a time of 4:10.46.
On the women's side, Mi'Angel Daniels ran the 60-meter hurdles in 8.84 to finish third. In the high jump, Desiree Thomas cleared 5' 5 ¼" to earn third place. Sarena Choi earned third in the long jump with a leap of 18' 7".
The Flashes will return to Stile Field House for day two of the Akron Invitational tomorrow. Day two will begin at 12p.m. with the women's triple jump and women's pentathlon 60-meter hurdles. The final event of the day, the men's distance medley relay, is set to start at 3:25p.m.
Players Mentioned
