As the Southside Power & Fitness Invitational came to a close, the Lenoir-Rhyne Men’s and Women’s Track and Field Teams took home eight first-place finishes.

The Bears dominated on the short track as Alexis Brown and Dario Matau each recorded two victories in their respective races.

Continuing her impressive freshman year, Brown got her weekend started with a first-place finish in the 100-meter dash with a time of 11.34 seconds. The Mableton, Ga. native was not done yet as she went on to capture the 200-meter sprint with a 23.11-time.

For Matau, the sophomore picked up his first win on Saturday thanks to his 46.87-time in the 400-meter event. Later in the competition, he followed up his first-place result with a 20.83-second top finish in the 200-meter dash.

The men’s 200-meter race was one of the most impressive performances on the track as the Bears swept the podium with second and third-place finishes from Trent Davis II (21.09) and Lucas Besong (21.61), respectively. Besong also placed third in the 400-meter sprint with a time of 48.16 seconds.

Another short track event that the Bears dominated in was the men’s 100-meter dash where Davis II took the top spot with a time of 10.34 seconds. Not too far behind him were Royce Turner Jr. (10.71) and Tye Roberson (10.72) who placed third and fourth in the event, respectively.

Marcus Crumpler secured a second-place finish in the men’s 200-meter hurdles as the sophomore posted a 52.90 time.

In some other women’s track events, Abigail Kinoshita earned a fourth-place result in the 100-meter hurdles after a 15.51 time. In the 400-meter race, Damyja Ortiz recorded a 57.24 time to take a fourth-place finish too.

In the 4×100-meter relays, the men took another first-place finish in the outdoor season after recording a time of 39.93 seconds. Meanwhile, for the women, their squad came up just short with a time of 45.87 seconds, good enough for second place. In addition, the women’s 4×400-meter relay also took the runner-up spot with a time of 3:54.27 in their event.

Although it was splendid afternoon in the short to middle distance events, LR has some similar success in the long-distance races.

Starting at the 10000-meter events, the Bears secured the top two spots of the men’s and women’s races. Paige Ewald recorded the fastest mark with a time of 37:05.90, which put herself ahead of her teammate, Kathrin Polke, who finished the 10k in a 38:42.48 result.

While the only two participants of the men’s event were Jacob Parkinson and Lewis Budgen, the former recorded a first-place time of 31:21.82, which was 20 seconds faster than Budgen’s time.

In the men’s 3000-meter steeplechase, the pair of brothers Eli Riggs (10:25.21) and Isaac Riggs (10:29.62) took third and fourth place finishes, respectively.

In the women’s 5000-meter race, the Bears got two top three finishes as Claudia Teran Romagosa took a second-place result by posting a time of 18:44.08. Sabrina Fleig garnered a third-place finish thanks to her time of 19:08.47, while Eliska Rihova rounded out the top five with her 19:41.56 mark.

While all the track events competed on Saturday, there were still some field events sprinkled throughout the day, and the Bears had another strong day feeding off Friday’s success.

Lacey Triplett secured a first-place finish in the women’s javelin throw as the senior recorded a 34.73-meter hurl. In the men’s event, Josh Wise finished in third with a 53.19-meter hoist.

In the men’s hammer throw, Ellis Horton registered a third-place result with his 47.34-meter toss. Sitting right behind him on the leaderboard was Monte Scott, who took fourth place with a 40.56-meter throw.

Moving over the men’s triple jump, Nick Henriques leaped his way into third place with a 14.15-meter bounce.

In the pole vault competitions, the Bears took a pair of fourth-place finishes in both the men’s and women’s divisions. For the gentlemen, Philip Stomne registered a 4.20-meter clearance, while for the ladies, Pearl Ballard recorded a 3.35-meter leap.

DAY ONE RECAP

The competition the Bears excelled at the most in was the high jump event, especially in the women’s division. Sofia Lanina (1.60-meters) and Destini Wilson (1.55-meters) took home podium finishes as they placed second and third, respectively.

In the men’s division, Orlando Descartes came in second with his 1.90-meter leap.

Shifting over to the women’s shot put, Olivia Jackson finished second in the event with her 12.63-meter hurl. Marlesia Walker (10.58-meters) and Savannah Nippa (10.34-meters) also had good showings in the event with sixth and seventh place finishes, respectively.

Walker and Nippa also secured some strong results in the women discuss throw. Walker finished fifth in the event with a 32.88-meter throw, just edging out Nippa who finished sixth with a 31.90-meter toss.

Ellis Horton recorded two Top 10 finishes to start the weekend in the men’s discus throw and shot-put competition. The senior’s best finish came in the discus throw, a fourth-place result thanks to his 46.19-meter heave. He also garnered a ninth-place finish in the shot-put event with a 12.54-meter throw.

Monte Scott also had a solid outing in the men’s discus throw as he finished in eighth with his 39.76-meter hurl.

Up next for the Lenoir-Rhyne Men’s and Women’s Track and Field Teams will be a return to the Irwin Track at the Moretz Athletic Campus for the LR Bears Invitational. The one-day event will take place on Saturday, April 22 starting at 10:00 a.m.