• Junior Paddy Grandinali ran the third-fastest 10000m time in school history (29:40.43) Friday in Raleigh
• Sophomore Chernet Sisay finished third in the 5000m at Winthrop while setting a new personal best (14:59.52)
• At Winthrop, freshman Matt Hollis finished fourth in his first-ever decathlon with 5234 points
Raleigh Relays
RALEIGH, N.C. – Under the Friday night lights of the Raleigh Relays inside Paul Derr Stadium, High Point University junior Paddy Grandinali shined in one of the most enduring tests in all of collegiate track & field.
As the clock struck 11 p.m. in the state capital, Grandinali put the finishing touches on an outstanding race that should qualify the Warwick, N.Y., native for NCAA Regional competition in May.
His time of 29:40.43 is the third-fastest time ever run by an HPU student-athlete and earned him a 16th-place finish out of 63 competitors in one of the top-2 10K fields in the nation annually. The time also eclipsed Grandinali’s previous collegiate best by more than 1:20.
In addition to Grandinali’s gutty performance, a number of other Panthers saw action on day one of the prestigious event. Freshmen Ryan Udvadia and James Quattlebaum suited up for the Panthers in their outdoor track & field debuts. Udvadia ran a time of 15:08.39 in the 5000m run to place 17th, while Quattlebaum finished 21st in 15:13.21.
In sprints action, freshman James House put together a strong time of 11.16 in his first collegiate 100m dash to place 26th out of 84 competitors. Junior Andrew Kuras was 77th in 11.76 seconds.
Junior Paul O’Donoghue finished 68th out of 120 competitors in the 800m run with a time of 3:58.93.
Winthrop Invitational
ROCK HILL, S.C. – Sophomore Cherney Sisay ran a strong 5000m en route to a new personal best time while leading the Panthers Friday at the Winthrop Invitational.
Sisay broke the 15-minute mark for the first time in his career while placing third out of 42 competitors. His time of 14:59.52 eclipsed his previous PR by more than 26 seconds.
Freshman Matt Hollis put together an impressive second day of action in the decathlon to place fourth with 5234 points. Hollis won the discus throw (29.64m, 97-3) and finished third in the javelin (37.74m, 123-10).
In throws action, junior Jim Wilson finished eighth out of 40 competitors in the shot put with a strong mark of 13.14m (43-1.25). Wilson also placed 17th in the hammer throw with at throw of 37.82m (124-1.25).
Junior Will Narramore finished 28th in the long jump (6.01m, 19-8.75) to round out day one competition in Rock Hill for the Panthers.
HPU wraps up the Raleigh Relays and the Winthrop Invitational on Saturday.