ETSU finishes last week of preparation, head to take on the SoCon Indoor Championships next weekend

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (Feb. 13, 2020) – The ETSU track and field team wrapped up their final warmup weekend for the Southern Conference Indoor Championships on Saturday as both the men and women competed across two competitions this weekend.

The distance runners headed to the Music City Challenge in Nashville, hosted by Vanderbilt. After Ben Varghese’s successful performance in the only race for the Bucs on Friday, ETSU Director of Track and Field George Watts grabbed some good performances out of his crew on day two, including a strong showing from an underclassman in Miguel Parrilla.

“We had a very good day in Nashville as the entire group ran personal or seasonal bests,” said Coach Watts.

The Bucs were busy in Lynchburg, Va. as well, competing in events all day while receiving some positive performances on both the track and in the field heading into conference championships next weekend in Lexington, Va.

“The highlights at Liberty included Aliyah Hill in the long and triple jump, Brittney Griffith in the 400m and Kennedi Johnson making the final in the hurdles,” stated Watts.

Field Highlights from Day Two of the Darius Dixon Memorial Invitation:

• Patra Williams flawlessly made her way through the first four rounds of the high jump, surpassing the 1.58m mark. Williams was one mark off a second placed finish, finishing in the upper third of a near 30 woman field.
• Aliyah Hill made her mark on the meet, placing fourth in the long jump with a leap of 5.70m. The mark set a new PR for the sophomore, blowing by her previous of 5.11m. Kendra Whitehurst and Molly Rhudy followed closely behind her with marks of 5.45m and 5.39m, a PR for the latter of the pair.
• Hill followed her long jump performance with a triple jump close to match, placing eighth with a jump of 12.09m, tying her seed mark coming into the meet. Paige Peterson had a top half finish with a mark of 11.50m.

Track Highlights from Day Two of the Darius Dixon Memorial Invitation:

• After finishing the 60m hurdle prelims with the top qualifying time at 8.91s, Kennedi Johnson grabbed her best time in the semis while finishing 7^th in the finals with a time of 8.85s. Johnson broke her PR in the semis with a time of 8.78s, besting her previous of 8.84s.
• Kyle Noe finished the 60m sprint in a time of 7.23s, just a tenth a second away from a qualifying time in the prelims.
• In a competitive women’s 60m sprint, Lanaya Martin’s time of 7.83 proved to be just .07s off of a qualifying time and only .25s off top mark, just missing out on a chance to move to the next round.
• Griffith finished the 400m dash in a time of 59.73s, setting a new personal record for the sophomore.

Track Highlights from Day Two of the Music City Challenge

• Freshman Miguel Parrilla continues his strong rookie campaign, placing seventh with the best time of all freshmen in the event, clocking in at 1:52.25.
• Matthew Scarr delivered a time in the 3000m run good for ninth, finishing in a time of 8:12.78.

For a full list of results the Music City Challenge and Darius Dixon Memorial Invitational, check the right side of this page.

ETSU fans wanting to receive Buccaneer news, score updates, in-game promotions and much more sent to their mobile device can do so by signing up for “Buc Updates.” Click here to sign up today.

For more information on ETSU track and field, visit ETSUBucs.com and click on the track and field pages. Also, follow the program on Twitter @ETSU_TF_XC and on Instagram at the handle @etsuxctf.