CENTRAL, S.C. – The Anderson University men's and women's track and field teams continued their respective outdoor seasons with impressive outings by winning three events and finishing in the top-10 in ten additional events, Friday afternoon at the Susan Rouse Invitational, which is being hosted by Southern Wesleyan.
Senior JoLyn Copeland finished third in the women's hammer throw with a toss of 41.59 meters, with sophomore Olivia Evans winning the women's 5,000 meter run in a time of 18:35.84. Classmates Hannah Beach (18:44.93) and Olivia Rish (18:57.45) finished second and third, respectively. Sophomore Lydia Gambrell crossed the finish line in a time of 19:42.18 and claimed seventh place, with senior Maddie Buddenberg (20:50.86) and junior Emily Olson (21:14.25) finishing ninth and 10th, respectively.
On the men's side, sophomore Robert Jones is fourth in the decathlon following five events, while freshman Scott Sanford won the javelin throw with a distance of 47.61 meters.
Senior Anthony Aleruchi led three Trojans in the men's hammer throw by finishing fifth with a toss of 41.94 meters. Sophomore Connor Wheatley finished sixth with a distance of 36.69 meters and freshman Evan Francis claimed seventh place with a distance of 33.83 meters.
Sophomore Philip Quillen paced eight Trojan runners in the men's 5,000 meter run by winning the event in a time of 15:26.26. Freshman Thomas Sutcliffe was third after crossing the finish line in a time of 15:59.82, with fellow freshman Noah McLain finishing sixth in a time of 16:14.97. Sophomores Weston Hutto (16:18.48) and Joey Teachout (16:31.48) finished seventh and eighth, respectively.
Freshman Brandon Wilson crossed the finish line in 11th place in a time of 16:40.25, while sophomore Hayden Tuten (16:52.12) was 13th and sophomore David Rolon (17:05.89) finished 17th.
The second and final day of the Susa Rouse Invitational is slated to get underway Saturday morning with decathlon and heptathlon events at 8 a.m.