Kent State University
Ashland Alumni Open
Track and Field Competes Well at Ashland Alumni Open
5/1/2022 10:09:00 AM | Men's Track & Field, Women's Track & Field
ASHLAND, Ohio – The Kent State track and field program won eight events and posted 21 top-three finishes during competition at the Ashland Alumni Open on Friday and Saturday.
Lukas Van Der Watt and Jake Wickey led the way with marks that rank sixth in Golden Flashes outdoor history in their respective events. Van Der Watt was successful on his first three attempts Saturday and finished second in the men's pole vault with a personal-best height of 16'-10.75". Wickey set a new PR for the second week in a row with a toss of 221'-7" on his fourth attempt to place third Friday in the men's hammer throw elite invite competition.
Kent State swept the javelin to conclude Friday's action. Scott Benco recorded a mark of 205'-6" on his opening throw to win the men's competition and Bradley Heck was right behind in second with a person-best throw 203'-8". Grace Tennant won the women's event with a throw of 143'-5". Tennant returned to action on Saturday, taking second in the discus throw (163'-4") and fourth in the shot put (50'-2.75").
Gabby Bailey and Nolan Landis earned the two final wins for the Flashes in field events. Bailey placed first in the women's shot put elite invite with a mark of 51'-9.75" and Landis won the men's shot put with a throw of 52'-6.75". Both throwers added third-place finishes in their respective discus throw elite invite competitions, as Bailey had a top throw of 160'-4" and Landis' best throw went 168'-10".
Nick Stricklen continued his stellar debut season in a Kent State uniform and ran a time of 9:11.95 to win the men's 3,000-meter steeplechase by more than a minute.
Mi'Angel Daniels, Ruby Greenwood and Alexandria Verbancic also earned victories on the track. Daniels won the women's 100-meter hurdles in 14.20 seconds. Greenwood posted a season-best time of 55.07 in the women's 400-meter dash. Verbancic finished in 1:02.50 to win the women's 400-meter hurdles.
Kent State finished second in both 4x100-meter relay races. Mondo Colome, Asa Hodrick, Korie Davis II and Jaheim Jones posted a Mid-American Conference-leading time of 40.40 in the men's race, while Jayda Singleton, Benja Duff, Daniels and Verbancic finished in 47.44 on the women's side.
Jacob Mally and Jonathan Solomon also had runner-up performances on the track for the Flashes. Mally posted a time of 14.61 seconds in the men's 110-meter hurdles and Solomon ran a personal-best 47.93 in the men's 400m.
Sarena Choi took second in the women's long jump with a season-best mark of 18'-10". Karlea Duhon cleared her first two bars for second in the women's high jump with a height of 5'-3".
Brian Phillips rounded out the top-three finishers with a distance of 22'-3.75" in the men's long jump.
Leah Lisle (4:41.60) and Ethan Yost (3:54.57) both ran PRs to place fourth in the 1,500-meter run.
Kent State will compete at the WVU Last Chance meet on Saturday, May 7 to conclude the regular season.
Players Mentioned
