• Junior Austin Miller won the pole vault title with a mark of 4.65 (15-3)
• Junior Paul O’Donoghue posted the first individual event victory of his career with a first-place finish in the mile
• Freshman James House finished fourth in the 60m dash (6.87 seconds), just .04 seconds off the HPU school record
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Juniors Austin Miller and Paul O’Donoghue earned first-place finishes in their respective events to lead the High Point University men’s track & field team on day one of the Winston-Salem State Open.
Miller captured the pole vault title for the second time in as many meets this season, while O’Donoghue made his season debut with a victory in the one mile run.
“There was some rust to shake off coming back from the holidays but I’m pleased with the competitive nature of our team,” associate head coach Eric Dudley said. “This meet is a chance for the athletes and coaches to assess where we are. It’s nice to see our athletes integrating some elements in order to take that next step to reach another level of success and performance.”
Miller registered a vault of 4.65m (15-3) to take the title at the JDL Fast Track. The Herndon, Va., native also won the vault title at the JDL Kickoff Classic in December with a school-record mark of 4.90m (16-1).
Junior Harris Coley placed second in the vault on Sunday with an indoor personal-best mark of 4.35m (14-3). Coley’s previous top indoor mark had been 4.25m (13-11) set last season at the UCS Invitational.
“We were the dominant vault school at the meet,” Dudley said. “The vaulters had an opportunity to take some risks with pole progressions and height progressions and it worked out well for Austin and Harris.”
O’Donoghue crossed the finish line in 4:31.67 to win the mile title Sunday at JDL. It marked the first individual event victory of his HPU career.
In sprints action, freshman James House shined in his debut for the Panthers, placing fourth in the 60m dash final with a time of 6.87 seconds. The time was just four hundredths of a second off of the HPU school record of 6.83, set by Evan Emery at last season’s Big South Indoor Championship.
“A highlight for our team certainly has to be James House finishing fourth in the 60m dash as a freshman, running 6.87,” Dudley said. “He kind of stumbled out of the blocks but didn’t lose much at all. For him to run like that early on is very exciting.”
In throws action, junior Jim Wilson led the Panthers with a fourth-place finish (13.29m, 43-7), while senior Christian Spaulding was right behind Wilson with a fifth-place mark of 13.03m (42-9).
In the long jump, junior Will Narramore paced HPU with a seventh-place finish (6.52m, 21-5) and junior Adam Devito placed ninth with a jump of 6.37m (20-11).
HPU wraps up the Winston-Salem State Open on Monday beginning at 10 a.m. at the JDL Fast Track.