HICKORY, N.C. - The Anderson University track and field teams opened their outdoor seasons at Lenoir-Rhyne's PowerSox Invitational on Saturday, with freshman Brooklyn Watkins setting two new school records and the Trojans capturing 38 top-ten finishes.
Watkins, from Jefferson, Ga., posted a new Anderson record with a distance of 34.06 meters in the javelin throw, finishing third, and followed up by setting a new AU mark in the pole vault with a height of 2.60 meters, earning third once again.
Senior standout Lauren Sloan brought home first place in the hammer throw with a distance of 41.25 meters, while newcomer Savanna Keese finished third, with a toss of 37.28 meters. Sloan also took first in the shot put, with a toss of 12.61 meters and Keese garnered third at 10.16 meters.
Just behind Watkins in the javelin event was freshman Jill Baxter, with a throw of 29.71 meters, which was good enough for fifth place. The versatile Baxter also claimed fifth in the high jump at 1.52 meters.
Sloan was just shy of another title in the discus throw, finishing second with a distance of 34.90 meters, while Keese posted a ninth-place finish with a distance of 27.90 meters.
On the track, Madison Guest collected third in the 400 meter dash, crossing the line in 1:02.66, while junior Joelle Purinton finished 10th in the 100 meter hurdles with a time of 18.32.
Senior Sarah Solesbee earned seventh in both the 100 meter and 200 meter dash a with a time of 13.23 and 27.31, respectively.
The Trojan women also made a strong showing in the 800 meter run, with senior Whitney Bishoff (2:25.09) finishing first, while Madison Guest (2:28.27), Sydney Hazel (2:29.23) and Rachel Westberry (2:34.20) all collecting top-ten times.
On the men's side, junior Will Byars captured first place in the hammer throw at 44.56 meters, while freshman Brant Bullister brought home second place with a throw of 38.98 meters. Another newcomer, Nathan Plank garnered fifth with a distance of 34.49 meters.
Byars notched third in the discuss throw at 36.63 meters, while Plank collected sixth with a distance of 35.22 meters and Bullister garnered 10th at 33.48 meters.
Byars posted a second-place finish in the shot put with a distance of 13.54 meters and Bullister earned fifth with a toss of 12.05 meters, while Plank finished ninth at 11.38 meters.
Junior Zach Hart posted a third-place finish in the javelin throw with a toss of 52.20 meters and freshman Jonathan Chapman earned 10th in the long jump with a distance of 6.04 meter and placed eighth in the triple jump with a distance of 12.27 meters.
Sophomore Deniz Hay (4:27.66) brought home second in the one mile run, while Parks Edwards crossed the line in ninth with a time of 4:38.42.
Junior Matt Shaffer earned third in the 400 meter dash, while junior Josh Butler garnered eighth in the 100 meter dash in 11.05.
Junior Drew Mahaffey (2:02.01) and Hay (2:02.47) finished fourth and fifth, respectively in the 800 meter run, while Ryne Welch (2:06.79) finished 10th.
Junior Alex Pena finished ninth in the 5,000 meter run in a time of 16:16.66.
Anderson will get back in action this weekend at Coastal Carolina.
