HICKORY, N.C. - The Anderson women's track and field team is fourth and the men's squad is sixth following the opening day of the 2016 SAC Track and Field Championships on Friday.
Junior Olivia Gardner earned Second-Team All-Conference accolades by finishing second in the 3000 meter steeplechase in a time of 11:09.60, while sophomore Hannah Sanford (39:16.42) was third in the 10,000 meter run, with freshman Martha Coleman (40:18.26), junior Grace Gerlock (41:18.45) and sophomore Allison Halperin (42:13.17) finishing sixth, ninth and 12th, respectively.
Senior D'Yandra Morris was fourth in the women's hammer throw with a toss of 41.47 meters, while freshman JoLyn Copeland (31.00 meters) was 12th. Freshman Charity Finley finished in a tie for eighth in the women's high jump with a height of 1.37 meters.
Freshman Bailey Waldbart was eighth in the women's javelin throw with a distance of 31.70 meters, with sophomore Haylee Love qualifying for Saturday's finals in the women's 1500 meter run by finishing fifth in a time of 5:15.74. Junior Sherin Malone (14.61) and senior Ali Palacios (14.76) each qualified for the finals of the women's 100 meter hurdles by finishing first and second, respectively.
Freshman Tori Cooper finished second in the women's 400 meter dash in a time of 58.40, while qualifying for Saturday's finals and freshman Madison Seay was fourth in the women's 400 meter hurdles, while qualifying for Saturday's finals in a time of 1:07.12.
Sophomore Mason Hazel captured First-Team All-Conference honors by winning the men's 10,000 meter run, with juniors Ben Boerma (33:54.23) and Ned Kennedy (35:13.66) finishing seventh and ninth, respectively. Junior Jesse Patrick (10:06.22) claimed fourth in the men's 3000 meter steeplechase, with sophomore John Drummond (10:26.80) finishing 10th.
Junior Eric Hoover claimed fourth in the men's javelin throw with a toss of 44.72 meters, with fellow junior Philip DrGraaf taking 12th with a distance of 38.39 meters, with sophomore Brelyn Alston-Barclay finishing seventh in the men's high jump with a height of 1.91 meters.
Sophomore Caleb Stephenson finished first in the preliminaries of the men's 400 meter dash to qualify for the finals and finished fifth in the 200 meter dash, while qualifying for the finals. Sophomore Christopher Burton crossed the line in second in a time of 10.89 in the 100 meter dash preliminaries to qualify for Saturday's finals, while claiming third in the 200 meter dash preliminaries to qualify for the finals.
Saturday's final day of action is slated to get underway at 10 a.m. with the field events and the track events are set for an 11:30 a.m. start with the women's 4x100 meter relay finals.
