WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Guilford College’s men’s and women’s track and field teams opened the indoor season Saturday at the JDL Kick-Off Classic at JDL Fast Track. The Quakers’ men placed 16th among 23 scoring teams, tops among the two NCAA Division III squads in attendance. Guilford’s women were 21st in the 21-team field, second among two scoring Division III teams.
Trent Evans (Winston-Salem, N.C./R.J. Reynolds) sparked the Quakers’ men’s performance with a third-place finish in the 800-meter run. His time of one minute, 57.78 seconds is fourth-fastest in school history and less than a second off his personal best. Evans also contributed to the Quakers’ two scoring relays. He led off the 4×800 relay unit that took third in 8:16.51. Evans anchored Guilford’s 4×400 relay unit that finished seventh in 3:32.23, the fifth-best time in school history.
Josephus Mitchell (Winston-Salem, N.C./R.J. Reynolds) made a successful return to the track after sitting out 2015-16 with an injury. The Quakers’ junior set the school record in the 300-meter dash with a time of 38.77 seconds that placed 39th overall. His time broke the former mark (39.14) he set at the same meet two years ago. Mitchell also clocked the Quakers’ best time (7.11) in the 60-meter dash and finished 22nd.
Other highlights from the meet include Lucas Prillaman’s successful track debut with the second-fastest 500 time in Guilford history (1:11.46). The soccer standout’s effort was less than two seconds off the school record set by Josh Farrar ’16 in 2012. Prillaman also ran the mile in 5:09.82, which finished 28th. Guilford’s Lee Joyner came home in 21st place in the 400 in 53.65 seconds. Teammate Nick Reynolds claimed 16th place in the 3,000 with a personal-best time of 9:51.71.
Four school records fell on the women’s side and rookie Elisabeth Marshall (Clemmons, N.C./West Forsyth) had a hand in two of them. She posted the fastest 1,000-meter time in Guilford history (3:34.84) to place 14th in the field. Teammate Samantha Brooks finished behind Marshall in the second-best 1,000 time (3:43.46) at Guilford. Marshall ran the third leg of the Quakers’ 4×800 relay that accounted for the Quakers’ three points in the meet. Guilford’s Tess Stryk, Kate Jenkins-Sullivan and Rebecca Reyna (Liberty, N.C./Southern Alamance) joined Marshall to finish in 10:58.47, more than seven seconds faster than the previous record.
Junior Becca Benfield continued her assault on the Quakers’ throwing records with a record-setting toss in the shot put. She placed 20th in the 32-team field (second among Division III throwers) with a throw of 9.87 meters (32’4.75”). Her weight throw of 10.44 meters (34’3”) placed 16th in the field and is the third-longest toss in school history.
Jennifer Thomas (Randleman, N.C./Randleman) added the 300 to her list of school records. The junior already holds Guilford’s best 60- and 200-meter times and now has the 300 with her time of 49.32 seconds, which placed 60th overall. She also had Guilford’s best 60 time (8.97). Teammate A’lexus Newkirk delivered Guilford’s third-fastest 300 time (50.75).
Coach Danny Cash’s Quakers return to action January 16 in the Winston-Salem State Open.