Smith Qualifies for Nationals in 400 Meters

ROCK HILL, S.C. - The Columbia College Men's outdoor track and field team competed at the Winthrop Invitational in Rock Hill over the weekend and saw freshman MVP Alex Smith qualify for NAIA Nationals in the 400 meters in a time of 47.5 seconds to win his race by a full second over competitors from NCAA Div. I and II schools.

The invite was a non team-scored event. Also running in the 400 was sophomore Corey Liggins who placed 20th of 30 in 52.9 seconds. In the 800 meters, freshman Jusaint Conde led CC by placing 22nd in 2:11.6 while redshirt freshman Zion Hart finished 34th in the 100 meters in 12.17 seconds.

The men's 4x100 meter relay team then finished 4th out of 7 in a time of 42.19 seconds and featured a team of Kamron Holman, Willy Calcano, Jaden Barnette, and Tijai Hartwell. Calcano also competed in the 200 meters and finished 24th in 22.4 seconds while Liggins was 37th in 23.1 seconds and Holman 39th in 23.16 seconds.

In the High Jump on Saturday, CC was led by freshman Nevan Gaither finishing 8th at 1.8 meters (nearly 6 ft) while sophomore Jaylen Bostic was also 8th in the Triple Jump at 13.66 meters (44.9 ft). Freshman Darius Otero was 11th at 12.88 meters (42 ft) as well in the TJ. Sophomore Jayden Young then competed in the Long Jump on Friday and finished 9th of 17 with a mark of 6.36 meters (nearly 21 ft) while Otero was 13th at 6.12 meters (20 ft).

In the distance races, freshman Will Parker finished 5th in the 3K Steeplechase in a time of 12:34. In the 1500 meters, Columbia was led by freshman Alex Blake finishing 13th of 24 in a time of 4:26 while Chris O'Berry and Jimmy Bates were 18th and 20th respectively in time of 4:44 and 4:45. Senior Elijah Fink also competed unattached and finished 16th in 4:37. In the Decathlon, sophomore Jude Dill finished 4th with 1,960 points while competing in 7 events.

In the throwing events, freshman Jaden Reed led the men in the Hammer Throw on Friday placing 12th at 32 meters (105 ft) while junior Guruveer Jhaj was 13th at 30.4 meters. Reed then did very well for the Koalas in the Shot Put palcing 6th out of 20 with a mark of 12.84 meters (42 ft) while James Jeter was 14th at 9.4 meters. G. Jhaj then led the men in the Discus Throw placing 13th of 20 with a mark of 35.6 meters (116 ft).

The Koalas will now prepare to compete in the AAC Outdoor Championships from Thursday through Saturday of this week up at Montreat College in Black Mountain, NC.