High Point Track & Field Women Crowned Big South Champions for First Time in Program History

BLACKSBURG, VA– High Point University women’s track and field won the Big South Indoor Track and Field Championship on Saturday (Feb 29.). High Point finished in first with 174 points, beating second-place Hampton by 31.5 points. This is the first conference championship in program history. Zoe Geis was named Most Valuable Athlete of the Big South Championship. Alicia Dawson was named Big South Freshman of the Year. This is the second year in a row High Point has had a Big South Freshman of the year (Daniel Bogle, 2019). Coach Mike Esposito was named Big South Men’s Coach of the Year and Big South Women’s Coach of the Year.

FULL RESULTS

“The mentality was to compete, every jump, every throw, the next one was the most important one, everybody on the team counts,” said head coach Mike Esposito. “Track and field is not always viewed as a team sport but we view it as a team sport and you can see that right here. That was the big emphasis we are a team, defend the team. Defend the team.”

Geis’ Big South tournament featured a first-place finish in the 5000m with a time of 17.00.65. She had a third-place finish in the 1 mile with a time of 5:00.21. Geis took home first in the 3000m with a time of 9.47.97

Alicia Dawson built off of the great day she had yesterday with more success on Saturday. Dawson set a new school record in the triple jump achieving a jump of 12.28m. Dawson finished third in the triple jump.

High Point placed first, third, and fourth in the 1 mile. Freshman Olive Allen placed fourth with a time of 5:03.64. Geis finished third, and sophomore Franzi Jakobs finished first with a time of 4:56.46.

Facey earned another podium finish for the Panthers in the 60m hurdles. Sophomore Nyile Facey finished third with a time of 8.69 seconds in the 60m hurdles.

The Panthers finished first, second, and had two tied for sixth in the pole vault, four panthers scored in the pole vault. Haley Doyle and Emma Grace finished tied for sixth both clearing a bar of 3.36m. It was a personal best for Doyle, the senior. Rachel Berndsen finished second with a mark of 3.51m. Mackenzie Horn finished first in the pole vault clearing a mark of 4.00m.

Camryn Harper and Franzi Jakobs finished first and second in the 800m. Jakobs added on to her already impressive day with a second-place finish in the 800 with a time of 2:16.35. Harper won the 800m with a time of 2:16.35.

Geis won the 3000m, freshman Tessa Webb finished third with a time of 10.00.86.

High Point’s 4×400 team finished second with a time of 3:50.11. Taylor Arthur opened up the race by running her 400 in 57.118 she handed the baton to Facey who ran 57.237. Next was Jakobs who finished ran her leg in 58.259. Leah Bolden ran fourth and finished with a time of 57.488.

The Panthers had eleven competitors stand on the podium today on their way to HPU’s first Big South title in program history.

“This means quite a bit, it’s been fifteen years I’m surprised they didn’t get rid of me before this. We have tremendous support from our administration and we think this is just the tip of the iceberg. I want to thank my staff I have the best coaching staff in the country and it’s not even close.” Coach Esposito said about what winning the Big South championship means to him.

Final Team Results
High Point (174)
Hampton (142.5)
Campbell (114.5)
Charleston Southern (75.5)
UNC-Asheville (43)
USC Upstate (41)
Radford (34.5)
Gardner-Webb (25)
Winthrop (12)