NC State
Hilton Garden Invite
Pack Shines At Hilton Garden Invitational
1/30/2015 12:00:00 AM | Track
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WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Freshmen distance runners dominated the headlines for NC State in the first day of the Hilton Garden Invitational, while N.C. State's top distance runners shined on day two.
Friday, Jan. 30
Jumps and Throws:
In a weekend that many of the NC State jumpers were training as opposed to competing, the group still managed to earn recognition. Elizabeth Shuman finished on top in the high jump for the second time this season.
At the first meet of the season, Shuman jumped to a height of 5'10.85" which was good for first place. Almost two months later at the same venue, Shuman once again finished in first, this time with a mark of 5'7.75". Shuman has now finished in either first or second place in all but one competition this season.
On the men's side, Kris Kornegay-Gober who is a former student-athlete and current student assistant for the NC State track and field program competed unattached in the men's high jump. His mark of 6'11.50" was good for first place.
Amara Bell had a sixth-place finish in the long jump with a mark of 18'0.25". The mark is her second best on the season and is over a foot better than her previous attempt at the JLD Fast Track earlier in the season.
In the weight throw, redshirt freshman Joshua Davis threw for a third-place finish and his best mark of the season at 62'5.25" Jule Rich rounded out the top five with a throw of 59'6.25".
Also in the weight throw, All-American SeQuoia Watkins had a strong performance with a second-place finish. Alyssa Dunn finished 12th with a throw of 49'7.75".
Distance:
Ian Milder continued his early success with a first-place finish in the 3,000m run. In two consecutive meets, Milder has finished in the top-five of each event he has competed in. During this event, he beat out competition from Virginia Tech, Wake Forest and various other schools. Nick Link, Bakri Abushouk and Patrick Sheehan also had top-10 performances in the 3,000m run. Sheehan competed unattached.
In the men's 800m run, Vibushan Sivakumaran and Jon Knight posted top-10 finishes in a field of 75 athletes. Sivakuman's sixth-place finish of 1:54.41 is his best time in the 800m this season. This season, he competed previously in the 800m at the UNCG 6-Way Meet.
On the women's side, Rachel Koon, competing unattached had the best mark for NC State in the 3,000m with a sixth-place finish in 9:49.57. Olivia Enright, Laura Hoer and Gianna Frontera also finished in the top-15 for the Pack.
In her second meet for NC State, Bella Smith finished seventh in the 800m, earning her first top-10 finish as a NC State student-athlete. The Australian is quickly finding her stride during her transition to living in The States as she has started her NC State career with two solid performances.
Sprints:
Just like the jumpers, many sprinters were using the week for training, but J'den Williams competed and had an impressive showing the 60m dash preliminaries. The Raleigh, N.C. native qualified for the final heat on Saturday with a time of 7.75. The JLD Fast Track is the same venue where Willaims produced her best mark of the season in the 60m dash of 7.74.
Saturday, Jan. 31
NC State had a solid second day in the Hilton Garden Invitational. Many student-athletes set new personal bests while competing against elite competition.
Throws
Jule Rich was the first athlete to compete on the second day of the meet for NC State. He finished seventh in the shot put with a throw of 49'11.00" On the women's side, SeQuoia Watkins finished fifth with a throw of 44'2.75". The finish marks the 10th time she has placed in the top-five of the standings this season. Alyssa Dunn's sixth place throw of 44'1.50" set a new personal best.
Sprints
After advancing from the preliminary heat of the 60m dash on Friday, J'den Williams finished third in her heat of the semifinals with a time of 7.79. Her mark was just a few tenths of a second short from qualifying for the finals.
1 Mile Run
In the unseeded women's mile competition, Alyssa Rudawsky finished 12 out of 61 with a mark of 5:10.44 to lead NC State runners in the event. Her time set a new personal collegiate best and slashed over five seconds off her previous season best. Esther Fisher finished 14th, while Lizzy Kroeger who was competing unattached, finished 16th in the first event of her season.
Camel City Elite Races
Several members of the team competed in the Camel City Elite races which featured sponsored professionals and top collegiate competition. All of the races were run at an extremely fast pace. NC State student-athletes performed well and a few set new personal collegiate best marks.
800m school-record holder Kenyetta Iyevbele was the first to compete for the Pack in these races. She finished seventh in the 800m with a time of 2:10.69. This was her first 800m competition of the season.
Shortly after Iyevbele, Joanna Thompson and Samantha George ran in the 3,000m race. Both competed for the first time this season in this event and set new top marks individually. Thompson finished in seventh with a collegiate-best mark of 9:29.41. The time broke her previous indoor collegiate best by four seconds and is currently ranked No. 33 in the nation. George finished 10th with a time of 9:31.80. Her mark slashed seven seconds off her previous best.
On the men's side, Jacob Thomson had another strong meet. He followed up his fourth place finish in the mile run at last week's Hokie Invite with another top-10 performance - this time against elite competition. The redshirt freshman finished in seventh with a mark of 8:05.19 which checks in at No. 24 on national lists.
Graham Crawford was NC State's final competitor on the day. Crawford finished ninth with a time of 4:04.48. Four of the race's six college athletes - including Crawford, now hold spots in the nation's top-30 mile times.
Up Next
Next weekend, the team will travel back to Blacksburg, Va., for the Virginia Tech Elite Meet. The meet will start Friday, Feb. 6 and conclude on Saturday, Feb. 7.
