High Point Men’s Track In First after Day One of Big South Indoor Championship

BLACKSBURG, Va. – High Point University men’s track and field completed day one of the Big South Indoor Track and Field Championship. The day was filled with highs and success as the Panthers broke a school record on Friday (Feb 28.). After day one High Point is in first place with 74 points, Campbell is second with 38 points, and Charleston Southern is third with 27 points. Carter Clasper and Chris Van Niekerk were crowned as Big South Individual champions. Hocine Bouchrak, Daniel Bogle, Jordan McClung, and Zane Griffith all made it on the podium on Friday as well.

FULL RESULTS

“We had a really good day, but it’s just one day this is a marathon, tomorrow is a very big day,” Coach Mike Esposito said. “We could not have done better with advancing people through, it puts us in a position to score in everything tomorrow. We got some big events coming for us I’m really excited. I loved the way our kids competed today, I absolutely loved it was impressive to watch them compete.”

The pole vault came down to the wire. The pole vault final came down to McClung and Clasper. The winner had to be decided by a jump-off. Each Panther made several attempts and their counter-part matched their result. With the bar at 4.95, McClung just missed clearing it. Clasper then cleared the 4.95 bar to clinch his second straight Big South Championship. Griffith finished third in the pole vault completing the podium sweep for HPU.

Van Niekerk experienced great success in the shot put during his freshman indoor season he capped off his indoor season with another win today. Van Niekerk’s event winning mark was 17.07.
Daniel Bogle continued his hot streak by finishing second in the long jump with a mark of 4.36. Bogle’s jump of 4.36 set a new school record.
Deron Dudley qualified for the 200 on Saturday (Feb 28.) his time of 22.22 helped him secure a spot. He also qualified for the 60m dash thanks to a time of 6.86.

Bobby Dupell III came up big in the 400m as he was able to qualify for tomorrow’s final of the 400. A time of 49.38 earned the sophomore a spot in the finals.

The Panthers will be back in action tomorrow as they are seeking their first Big South indoor championship.