BRIDGEWATER, Va. – Guilford College’s Alex Martin (Pfafftown, N.C./Reagan) ran the fastest 100 meter dash preliminary time as Guilford College opened up day one of the Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) Championships at Bridgewater College’s Jopson Field. The Quaker men currently stand third with 20 points while the women are eighth with two points.
The Quaker men claimed four second place or better finishes on the first day. Guilford earned five qualifications into the finals in four different events.
Martin’s 10.92 second finish in the 100 meter dash claimed the top spot in the preliminaries heading into Saturday’s final. The Quakers claimed two chances at top points in the 100 meter dash finals with C.J. Green claiming eighth place with a time of 11.25 seconds, earning the final qualifying spot. Martin and Green together would qualify for a second event, finishing side-by-side in the 200 meter dash with Martin claiming sixth at 22.58 seconds and Green crossing the finish line at 22.59 seconds.
Martin also claimed four points in the Long Jump, placing fourth with a mark of 6.74 meters. The mark is the third best in school history and was .06 meters off of second place and .01 meters off of finishing third.
David Cason (Clemmons, N.C./West Forsyth) claimed one of Guilford’s two second-place finishes in distance races. Cason placed second in the 3,000 meter steeplechase with a time of 9:45.20, claiming eight points and All-ODAC Second Team honors, his third honor in his career. The race was ran at James Madison University. Cason claimed the 2012 ODAC 3,000 meter steeplechase title while claiming second in 2013.
Andris Goncarovs claimed his second-career All-ODAC honor, earning eight points and All-ODAC Second Team laurels with a second-place finish in the 10,000 meter run with a time of 32:52.47.
Yashua Clemons set a new school record in the 400 meter hurdles and qualified for Saturday’s final race, finishing eighth with a time of 58.73 seconds. The time broke the school’s record by 1.59 seconds.
Becca Benfield led the Quaker women by scoring two points in the shot put, placing fifth with a mark of 10.35 meters. Benfield broke her own school record by .61 meters.
A’Lexus Newkirk led Quaker sprinters with the school’s sixth-best finish in the 100 meter dash with a time of 13.83 seconds. Newkirk also ran the second-best 200 meter dash finish in school history with a time of 28.83 seconds, .02 seconds off the school record.
Tess Stryk ran the fifth-best 400 meter run time in program history, finishing with Guilford’s best time at 1:06.66. The time was only .45 seconds off of the school record.
The Quakers continue in the final day of the ODAC Championships tomorrow at Bridgewater College beginning at 10:30 a.m.