COLUMBIA, S.C. – The Anderson University men's track and field team completed their first meet of 2023 at the Gamecock Opener on Saturday (Jan. 14), impressing with several top-five finishes.
The Trojans impressed in the 3,000m with four finishers in the top-10. Elliot Dotson led the way with a time of 8:29.14 to take second place. Spain Vaughan was close behind (8:31.65) for third place. Jonathan Roberts (8:48.24) and Ty Nelson (8:51.34) finished in sixth and eighth, respectively. David Williams (8:55.84), Daniel Similton (9:07.50), and Bryson Mace (9:24.20) also ran for the Trojans in the event.
Adam Trusty impressed in the mile run with a time of 4:26.88 to finish sixth. In the 400m, four Trojans competed: Ben Molitor (50.56), Logan Berzins (53.21), Hunter Norman (54.36), and Zach Cannon (54.82). Ian Macurda completed the 800m in a time of 2:09.45 for 25th.
The men's 4x400m relay team consisting of Ben Molitor, Logan Berzins, Tyler Farris, and Adam Trusty finished sixth at a time of 3:34.57. In the field, Lambdin Hardy, Tyler Farris, and Will O'Cain all came in at 4.10m in the pole vault. In the weight throw, Grayson Smith had a distance of 10.00m for 15th place.
"We had a lot of good things come out of this meet," said coach Kevin Eagle. "We had several personal bests across the board in various events. With this being the first competition of the semester, the coaching staff cannot be happier. The athletes will take what they learned from today and apply it to when we compete again at the same exact venue next weekend at an even larger meet."
The Trojans will return to Columbia, S.C. next Friday and Saturday (Jan. 20 – Jan. 21) for the Carolina Challenge. More information can be found at autrojans.com as the meet approaches.
