HICKORY, N.C. – Paced by senior Olivia Gardner and junior Mason Hazel's first-place finishes, the Anderson women's track and field team is fourth and the men's squad is tied for fourth following the opening day of the 2017 SAC Track and Field Championships on Friday.
Junior Mason Hazel won First-Team All-Conference recognition by winning the men's 10,000 meter run by nearly 20 seconds over his nearest competitor.
Senior Olivia Gardner captured First-Team All-Conference honors with her win in the women's 3,000 meter steeplechase in a time of 10:50.81 – more than six seconds faster than the nearest runner - while freshman Breck Jones captured fifth in a time of 11:52.98. Sophomore Maddie Buddenberg was seventh in a time of 12:49.12.
Sophomore Martha Coleman earned Third-Team All-Conference accolades by finishing third in the 10,000 meter finals in a time of 39:17.30, while senior Grace Gerlock (40:09.12) was sixth and junior Hannah Sanford (40:24.69) finished seventh. Senior Mia Swierzs claimed seventh in a time of 42:06.80.
Freshman JoLyn Copeland finished fifth in the women's hammer throw with a toss of 41.58 meters, while three Trojan women qualified for the 1,500 meter finals on Saturday, as sophomore Abigail Bozarth finished in a time of 4:56.96, while junior Haylee Love notched a time of 5:01.31 and freshman Morgan Bridges also qualified with a time of 5:02.48.
Freshman Jasmine Barmore advanced to the finals of the women's 400 meter dash with a time of 59.19 in the preliminaries. Freshman Morgan Bridges earned a spot in Saturday's 800 meter run finals with a time of 2:23.58 in the prelims, while classmate Emily Pitts also advanced to Saturday with a time of 2:23.63.
On the men's side, senior Philip DeGraaf was sixth in the men's pole vault with a height of 3.96 meters and also earned sixth place in the javelin throw with a toss of 43.39 meters. Junior Vojtech Velecky took ninth place (41.57 meters) and senior Eric Hoover finished 13th with a distance of 40.70 meters. Freshman Matthew Shoup claimed seventh in the men's high jump with a height of 1.85 meters.
Junior Anthony Aleruchi finished eighth in the hammer throw with a distance of 38.52 meters, while freshman Chandler Johnson brought home 14th place with a toss of 28.93 meters.
Senior Ben Boerma qualified for Saturday's finals in the 1,500 meter run by crossing the line in 4:12.28 and senior Christopher Burton advanced to Saturday's finals of the 100 meter dash by winning the prelim in a time of 10.60 and also won the men's 200 meter dash in a time of 21.26 to move on to Saturday's finals.
A trio of Trojans qualified for the men's 400 meter dash finals, with junior Rashod Monts crossing the line in fourth place in a time of 49.30, with freshman Jordan Anderson (49.33) and junior Caleb Stephenson (50.01) claiming fifth and seventh, respectively.
Freshman Brooks Hovis claimed fourth in the men's 3,000 meter steeplechase in a time of 10:07.31, with sophomore John Drummond (10:21.04) claiming seventh place.
Halfway through the decathlon, Hoover is in second place overall, behind Queens' Louis Simon after winning the shot put with a toss of 12.52 meters. He finished second in the long jump with a distance of 5.63 meters and claimed third in the high jump with a height of 1.61 meters. The Lexington, S.C., native crossed the finish line in third in the 400 meter dash and crossed the finish line in fourth place in the 100 meter dash in a time of 12.19.
Saturday's final day of action is slated to get underway at 9 a.m. with the decathlon and at 10 a.m. with the heptathlon. The track events are set for an 11:30 a.m. start with the women's 4x100 meter relay finals.
