HPU Men’s Track Finishes Competition at Duke Invitational

DURHAM, N.C. — The High Point University men’s track & field team wrapped up competition at the Duke Invitational in Durham, N.C., on Saturday, getting its top finishes from senior Alex Fisher and sophomore Ryan Venable, who placed fourth and fifth in the 110-meter hurdles, respectively. On Friday, freshman Reece Ayers won the 3,000-meter.

“Our hurdlers, Alex Fisher and Ryan Venable, both did well to make the finals today,” said HPU head coach Mike Esposito. “Chris Muggler ran very well in the 800 and Seth Harwood ran OK too. We’re getting ready for the Big South Championship in two weeks and this was another step on the way.”

Fisher placed fourth in the preliminaries in 14.86, just ahead of Venable at 14.95 to qualify for the finals. In the finals, the hurdlers faced a headwind and finished fourth and fifth again, coming in at 15.14 and 15.34. Fisher was just 0.01 behind West Virginia Wesleyan’s Stephon Knox for third.

Freshman Justin Doehr placed sixth in his heat and eighth overall in the 400-meter. He ran a time of 49.10 seconds.

High Point had four competitors in the 800-meter, led by Muggler. A freshman, Muggler placed second in his head and 17th overall in 1:54.71. He was edged out by VMI’s Andrey Dmitriev, who won the heat in 1:54.67. Harwood was in the same heat and placed fifth in 1:56.40. In the developmental section of the 800-meter in the morning, freshman Michael Colven placed 11th in 1:58.58 and freshman Evan Gingrich took 18th in 1:59.13.

The Panthers finished off the meet with Colven, Harwood, sophomore Tristan Faure and Gingrich combining to place seventh in 4×400 relay.

On Friday at Duke, Ayers won the 3,000-meter with an outdoor-best 8:46.59, beating runner-up Evan Darm from Campbell. Darm finished in 8:49.16. Ayers’s collegiate best in the 3,000-meter was 8:42.05 during the indoor season.

Freshman Christian Spaulding placed eighth in the javelin with a distance of 57.15 meters (187-6).

In the 1,500-meter on Friday, High Point senior Jevin Monds placed ninth in his heat and 15th overall with a time of 3:57.95. Freshman Jeff LaCoste placed eighth in his heat and senior Mike Ali placed 10th in his heat. In the developmental section of the 1,500-meter in the morning, senior Mike Feroe placed ninth.

High Point competes in the Johnson C. Smith Invitational next weekend before heading to the Big South Championship in Myrtle Beach, S.C., April 19-21.