HPU Track and Field Panthers conclude Hilton Garden Invitational

HIGH POINT, N.C. – The High Point University men’s track & field team wrapped up its weekend meet at the JDL Hilton Garden Invitational on Saturday in Winston-Salem, N.C. The Panthers ended the weekend with 23 individual season-best marks while sophomore Adam DeVito had HPU’s top two finishes of the day on Saturday.

“We had a big individual emphasis this weekend and we were able to see some people really start to hit their stride,” said associate head coach Eric Dudley. “It’s good to see our performances this weekend because it means that the work we are putting in is paying off. We know it’s going to be a battle in the conference so we’re looking forward to the challenge and to continue working towards our goals.”

DeVito competed in both of Saturday’s jumping events for the Panthers taking seventh in the long jump and 11th in the high jump. In the long jump, DeVito posted a team season-best distance of 6.78 meters (22-3). In the high jump, DeVito matched his season-best by clearing 1.95 meters (6-4.75).

The Panthers experienced success in the field events all weekend. On Friday, sophomore Austin Miller placed third in the pole vault with a mark of 4.70 meters (15-5) while sophomore Will Narramore had a career-best distance of 13.74 meters (44-2.50) in the triple jump.

High Point only competed in two events on the track on Saturday. Redshirt-senior Jacob Smith came in 11th in the 3,000-meter Camel City Elite race with a time of 8:19.26. That race also featured HPU sophomore Benji Szalai as well as several professional distance runners. In the Panthers’ only other race of the day, sophomore Dennis Crawford led a trio of HPU athletes with a time of 23.52 in the 200-meter.

In yesterday’s track events, freshman Mason Lenox came in 10th in the 5,000-meter race with a team season-best mark of 15:30.32. Lenox won his heat by over seven seconds.

Freshman Eric Purnell wrapped up the heptathlon on Saturday after competing in the 60-meter dash, long jump, shot put and high jump on the first day of the Hilton Garden Invite. Purnell’s best finish from Friday came in the 60-meter dash where he ran a 7.19 to place as runner-up. Purnell competed in the 60-meter hurdles, pole vault and 1,000-meter race on Saturday. He ended the competition in 11th place with 3698 points.

Also in the heptathlon, HPU senior Tristan Faure won the event while competing unattached. Faure received 4855 points to win the event, which was just off his career-best of 5,000 from last year’s Big South Indoor Championship.

High Point will be back in Winston-Salem, N.C. on Thursday as the Panthers compete in the HPU Team Challenge. The meet will be scored as a team and will feature several teams from this area.