HPU Women’s Track and Field Pina sets school record in weight throw on Saturday

HIGH POINT, N.C. – The High Point University women’s track & field team finished competing at the JDL Hilton Garden Invitational in Winston-Salem, N.C. on Saturday. Graduate student Lynee Pina set the school record in the weight throw with a toss of 15.22 meters (49-11.25) and had HPU’s best finish of the day.

Pina’s mark of 15.22 meters (49-11.25) bested the previous record of 14.93 meters (48-11.75), which was set by Nicole Garner in 2004. Pina’s throw earned her an eighth place finish in the highly competitive field and topped her career-best mark of 14.34 meters (47-0.75), which she set last Saturday at the Tar Heel Open.

“It’s great to see Lynee come back after her injury derailed her season last year,” said associate head coachEric Dudley. “It’s been a long time coming for her and as a leader of the team it’s great to see her hard work paying off.”

Also in the field events, freshman Jenny Mara cleared 1.60 meters (5-3) to come in 14th in the high jump on Saturday.

The Panthers also raced in the 200-meter and 1,000-meter races on Saturday. Sophomore Lilla Lorand led HPU on the track with a 10th place finish in 26.56 in the 200-meter. Sophomore Emily De Lena followed Lorand coming in at 26.58. In the 1,000-meter, freshman Natalia Ocasio led a trio of Panthers with an 18th place showing finishing in 5:15.19.

High Point had success on the track on Friday with sophomores Julia Zautcke and Erika Peoples placing third and fifth, respectively. Zautcke finished in a season-best 17:56.95 while Peoples followed her with a career-best 18:14.43. The Panthers finished the weekend with 26 individual season-bests on the women’s side.

“We’re in the mid-part of the season now and transitioning from a training phase to more of a performance phase of the season,” said Dudley. “We have a lot of people that have been very consistant and some that are just now hitting their stride and starting to emerge.”

HPU will return to action on Thursday, Feb. 6 at the High Point University Team Challenge in Winston-Salem, N.C. The meet will be scored as a team and will feature several teams from around the area.