HPU’s Bridges, Schnuck post top-3 finishes for women’s track at ETSU

• Junior Erika Bridges set a new PR in the pentathlon (3091) while finishing third
• Senior Jamie Schnuck placed third in the weight throw (16.42m, 53-10.50)
• Senior Julia Zautcke finished fifth in the 5000m run (18:04.19)

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. – The High Point University women’s track & field team put together a number of strong showings on day one of the ETSU Buccaneer Invitational on Friday.

HPU’s pair of pentathletes performed admirably. Junior Erika Bridges placed third out of 14 participants with a PR of 3091 points, while senior Sara Katherine Kirkpatrick finished seventh with 2996 points. For Bridges, the point total was more than 100 higher than her previous collegiate best set earlier this season.

Bridges’ best finish came in the high jump, where she placed second with a mark of 1.58m (5-2.25). Kirkpatrick earned a pair of top-3 finishes in the shot put (2nd – 9.89m, 32-5.5) and the 800m run (3rd – 2:26.63).

In throws action, senior Jamie Schnuck just missed her school record in the weight throw while putting together a strong mark of 16.42m (53-10.50). The throw earned Schnuck a third place finish in the event. Throws buddy Makenzi Holmes-DiGiovine posted her HPU best mark of 15.62m (51-3) to place 10th.

On the track, senior Julia Zautcke registered her best 5000m time in two seasons Friday night, finishing fifth out of 48 runners in the event with a time of 18:04.19. Freshman Courtney Kerr placed 12th in 18:54.55 while senior Lindsey Siska finished 16th (19:01.51).

In the preliminaries of the 60m hurdles, sophomore Ashlynn Schiro led the Panthers with a 27th-place finish (9.42), while fellow sophomore Haley Cianfarini was 36th in 9.74. Sophomore Mikaela Campbell placed 50th in 10.44 seconds.

Freshman Emmy Geis finished 54th (1:01.42) in the 400m dash preliminaries to lead HPU in the event. Fellow freshman Jasmyn Gillespie was 72nd (1:02.89) and sophomore CeAnna Soper placed 83rd (1:03.60).

Freshman Arianna Coleman placed 73rd in the preliminaries of the 200m dash (26.86) and sophomore Ashlynn Schiro finished 97th in 27.56 seconds.

The Panthers remain at ETSU for day two of the Buccaneer Invitational on Saturday.