HPU Track and Field: Faure Wins Heptathlon On Day Two Of W-S State Open

• Redshirt-senior Tristan Faure won the heptathlon title with a total of 4763 points
• Freshman James House posted his second top-3 finish of the weekend in the 200m dash (22.30)
• HPU currently holds the top marks in the Big South in the 60m dash, 200m dash, 60m hurdles, pole vault and heptathlon

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – After redshirting during the 2013-14 season, senior Tristan Faure returned to championship form on Monday at the JDL Fast Track, winning the heptathlon to pace the Panthers on day two of the Winston-Salem State Open.

Faure won the heptathlon title with a total of 4763 points. The West Chester, Pa., native was in sixth after four events Sunday, but came on strong Monday to vault into the first-place position. Faure won the 1000m run (2:50.44), finished second in the pole vault (4.05m, 13-3.50) and earned a second-place finish in the 60m hurdles (8.67) on Monday.

Freshman Matt Hollis placed seventh in the heptathlon (4107 points) while sophomore Eric Purnell was eighth with 4025 points.

Faure – who holds the HPU school record in the heptathlon and the decathlon – led the Panthers on a day in which HPU posted a number of top-5 finishes.

After finishing an impressive third in the 60m dash on Sunday, freshman James House matched the finish in the 200m dash with a time of 22.30. The time was just two tenths of a second off the High Point school record. Junior Andrew Kuras was ninth after tying his personal best time of 22.90, while sophomore PJ Lidonde was 26th in 24.19.

“Tristan’s come from behind win was a great competitive effort,” associated head coach Eric Dudley said. “He certainly worked through some things over the past two days and it was great to see him pick up the win. James House running 22.30 on a flat track was impressive as well. On a banked track, that time would have been within our school record finish.”

In middle distance events, sophomore Luke Goodrich finished fifth in the 800m run with a time of 2:01.37, while sophomore Nick Williams placed 12th in 2:04.12.

Junior Will Narramore placed fourth in the triple jump after posting a mark of 13.85m (45-5.25) and sophomore Pat Irwin finished seventh with a jump of 12.91m (42-4.25).

Junior Adam Devito earned a fifth-place finish in the high jump with a mark of 1.93m (6-4).

In the finals of the 60m hurdles, junior Dennis Crawford placed fifth with a time of 8.41 seconds and Lidonde was seventh in a personal-best time of 8.62 seconds.

“Overall, there were some great performances from our men’s team this weekend,” Dudley said. “Currently our men have the top-ranked marks in the Big South in the 60m, 200m, 60m hurdles, pole vault and the heptathlon, so they’re off to a great start. We look forward to adding our Big South champion distance unit to the mix next weekend at JDL.”

HPU returns to action Sunday (Jan. 25) at the UNCG Spartan Team Challenge at the JDL Fast Track.