[Track and Field] Indoor track & field season update

MONTREAT, N.C. – The Cavs have seen a number of personal bests, school records, conference qualifiers, and national qualifiers over their last two weekends of competition. The squad competed in the Camel City Invitational last weekend before the VMI Winter Relays this weekend – their last shot until the Appalachian Athletic Conference Track & Field Championships.

Camel City Invitational – Winston-Salem, N.C.

The women saw three new personal bests at Camel City starting with Lydia Wilson who finished fifth in the 5,000m at a time of 17:56.30. That mark was also the third-best time in the NAIA and good enough for a new school record in the event. Skyler Tait and Madeline Sides both hit personal bests in the 3,000m with times of 11:07.97 and 11:45.79 respectively.

On the men's side, Joshua Lester-Harris finished sixth in the 60m finals after his semifinals time of 6.95 was good enough for third-best in the AAC. Nathan Richards also set a pair of personal bests on the weekend. His first was in the mile with a time of 4:31.36 (second-best in the AAC) and then another in the 3,000m with a time of 8:59.80 (AAC-best).

Antonio Gomez hit a national qualifying "B" standard in the 1,000m with a fourth place finish of 2:33.40 which was also second-best in the AAC. Caleb Silver and Jacob Parker each hit AAC qualifying times in the 3,000m at 9:14.94 and 9:31.03, respectively. Daniel O'Dell set a new personal best in the same event with a time of 9:23.93. Jacob Prater finished second in the triple jump at a mark of 13.63m, sixth-best in the AAC.

Lastly, Israel Diaz tied his season-best 2.00m mark in the high jump to finish seventh in the event. The AAC-best mark was also a "B" standard national qualifier. However, Diaz would surpass these marks in the more recent VMI Winter Relays.

VMI Winter Relays – Lexington, Va.

As previously mentioned, Israel had a record performance in the high jump at the VMI Winter Relays. He won the event with a mark of 2.04m while setting a new school record and an "A" standard national qualification.

Caleb Thornburg set a new school record in the men's 500m with a time of 1:08.80, while Romane Baudin set a school record in the women's 200m with a 27.76 mark.

A pair of top-10 finishes on the weekend included Caleb Silver's fourth place finish time of 2:36.53 in the men's 1,000m and Jacob Prater's sixth place mark of 13.28m in the men's triple jump.

Joshua Lester-Harris reached finals in the men's 60m with a time of 6.98, but did not compete due to precautionary reasons.

Up Next: The Cavs are set to compete at the AAC Track & Field Championships in Winston-Salem Feb. 14 and 15.