HPU Men’s Track & Field Opens Its Indoor Season at the JDL College Kickoff Classic

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – The High Point University men’s track and field team opened its indoor season in the JDL College Kickoff Classic on Saturday in Winston-Salem, N.C. Junior Ryan Venable and freshman Dennis Crawford each posted top-four finishes in the 60-meter hurdles to highlight the day’s results for HPU.

“I think the team really had a solid day today,” associate head coach Eric Dudley said. “A lot of people were able to set new personal bests. Christian Spaulding set a new school record in the weight throw and we had two guys put up a solid showing in the hurdles. The exciting thing about the first meet is seeing the dividends from the training throughout the fall. We really set the bar high at this meet as the team heads into the holiday.”

Venable finished in third in the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 8.44. He finished one spot ahead of Crawford who crossed the line in fourth with a time of 8.50 in his first collegiate competition.

Sophomore Christian Spaulding continued to build on his strong spring, setting a new HPU indoor record in the weight throw with a toss of 14.34 meters (47-0.75). The new personal best propelled Spaulding to a seventh-place finish in Winston-Salem.

Three Panthers finished in the top 10 in the high jump as freshman Jordan Carr finished in fifth, freshman Adam DeVito finished eighth and redshirt-sophomore Max Coleman finished in ninth. Carr cleared 1.93 meters (6-4) in his first collegiate appearance while DeVito cleared 1.88 meters (6-2). Coleman matched DeVito with a jump of 1.88 meters . Coleman also finished in the top 10 in the long jump, clearing a distance of 6.61 meters (21-8.25) to finish in seventh place.

Freshman Will Narramore added to the Panthers’ strong showing in the field events with a ninth-place finish in the Triple Jump. Competing in his first college event Narramore cleared 12.12 meters (39-9.25).

Crawford and freshman Paul O’Donoghue each competed in the 500-meter run with Crawford placing in 15th and O’Donaghue finishing in 18th. Crawford completed the race with a time of 1:09.58 and O’Donaghue crossed the line with a time of 1:09.99.

Junior Tristan Faure competed in the first four events of the Heptathlon on Friday in Lynchburg, Va., at the Liberty Kickoff before joining the team in Winston-Salem on Saturday and simulating the final three events. Faure sat in third with 2670 points at the end of the day on Friday thanks to a first-place showing in the High Jump with a career-high height of 1.93 meters (6-4) and a second-place finish in the 60-meter dash (7.34). On Saturday, Faure finished with a career-best time of 2:42.02 in the 1000-meter run and vaulted a height of 3.65 meters (11-11.75).

High Point returns to action following the winter break on Jan. 18 when the team heads to Blacksburg, Va., to take part in the Virginia Tech Invite.