WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – The Anderson University men's and women's track and field teams opened the South Atlantic Conference Indoor Championships with record-breaking performances, Saturday at the JDL Fast Track indoor track and field facility.
The Trojans' women's distance medley relay team, consisting of Rebecca Ward, Lauren Pernell, Brianna Quartarao and Olivia Rish, took home third place in a time of 12:48.99, with junior Hannah Beach finishing seventh in the finals of the women's 5,000 meters in a time of 18:30.20 and senior Emily Olson claimed 16th place in a time of 20:55.44.
Regan Appleby finished 13th in the weight throw with a toss of 12.41 meters, with teammate Avonlea Smith taking home 25th place with a distance of 8.22 meters.
Rish qualified for the finals of the mile run by finishing 10th in the prelims in a time of 5:21.77, with Rish (2:23.42) and Quartararo (2:23.47) claiming second and third, respectively, in the 800 meters.
Women's Pentathlon
Lauren Pernell and Katharine Landry finished third and fourth, respectively, in the women's pentathlon, with the results below:
60m Hurdles
Pernell 4th 9.53
Landry 6th 9.97
High Jump
Pernell 6th 1.42m
Landry 7th 1.39 meters
Shot Put
Landry 1st 11.64m
Pernell 4th 9.57m
Long Jump
Pernell 4th 4.78m
Landry 6th 4.67m
800 meters
Pernell 1st 2:34.64
Landry 2nd 2:35.50
On the men's side, junior Philip Quillen paced five Trojans in the 5,000 meter finals by crossing the finish line in fifth place in a time of 15:16.35.
Sophomore Noah McLain claimed 13th place in a time of 16:17.68, with freshman Michael Burgess (16:25.57) claiming 14th place. Sophomore Brandon Wilson (16:44.03) and junior Hayden Tuten (16:50.05) finished 17th and 18th, respectively.
The men's distance medley relay squad, made up of Daniel Similton, Matthew Burgress, Cameron Owens-Hunter and Thomas Sutcliffe, finished third in a time of 10:36.37.
Conner Wheatley finished 11th in the weight throw with a distance of 13.69 meters, while Evan Francis claimed 17th with a toss of 12.39 meters.
Sutcliffe qualified for Sunday's finals in the men's mile run after posting a time of 4:25.38 and crossing the line in seventh place. Similton also qualified for the finals by finishing ninth in a time of 4:26.94.
"Both team have put themselves in a great position after day one," said Anderson head coach Kevin Eagle. "The women's pentathlon set the tone early with a third and fourth place finish from Pernell and Landry with both performances breaking the school record. We kept it rolling the rest of the day with getting several athletes making finals for Sunday. To cap off the night, Beach and Quillen scores big team points for us in the 5,000m races and both the men's and women's distance medley relays finished third. We are very excited about heading into day two."
The final day of the SAC Indoor Championships will get underway Sunday with the men's heptathlon 60 meter hurdles at 10:30 a.m., while the field events are scheduled to begin at 11:15 a.m. with the heptathlon pole vault.
