HPU’s Emery Sets VertKlasse Meeting Record In 100-meter

HIGH POINT, N.C. – The High Point University men’s track & field team wrapped up hosting the sixth annual VertKlasse Meeting on Saturday. Senior Evan Emery set the VertKlasse Meeting record to win the 100-meter dash.

Emery won 100-meter dash with a VertKlasse Meeting and facility record of 10.56. Emery also won the preliminaries of the 100-meter dash on Saturday with a wind-aided time of 10.47.

HPU continued its success on the track with several career-best marks. Sophomore Dennis Crawford ran a career-best and team season-best 14.41 in the preliminaries of the 110-meter hurdles to finish as runner-up. Freshman PJ Lidonde also ran a career-best 15.38 to place just outside the qualifiers in the preliminaries in tenth.

Lidonde also raced in the 400-meter hurdles along with Nick Hula. Hula and Lidonde took the top two spots in their heat. Hula finished with a team-season best and career-best time of 54.62 while Lidonde crossed in a career-best 55.88.

Sophomore Paul O’Donoghue won his 800-meter heat and came in fourth overall with a team-season best and career-best time crossing in 1:52.80. Sophomore Eddie Whitlock ran a season-best 1:54.34 to place eighth in the event.

Freshman Andrew Kuras won his heat of the participation section of the 200-meter in 22.59, which placed him fourth overall in the event. Also, freshman Luke Goodrich came in as runner-up in his heat and sixth overall in the participation section of the 800-meter. Goodrich crossed the line in 1:57.83.

The combination of Emery, Kuras, Hula, and Max Coleman combined in the 4×100-meter relay to finish with a team-season best 42.46. The team won their heat and placed fourth overall. Hula was also a member of the 4×400-meter relay team along with Crawford, Whitlock and O’Donoghue that won their heat with a team-season best mark of 3:20.85. The time placed the relay team fifth overall in the event.

In the field events, sophomore Will Narramore placed third in the long jump with an outdoor career-best and team season-best mark of 6.83 meters (22-5). Narramore also came in fourth in the triple jump with a distance of 13.56 meters (44-6). Also in the field, sophomore Austin Miller cleared 4.72 meters (15-5.75) in the pole vault to finish fourth.

The Panthers had three winners on the first day of the VertKlasse Meeting. Junior Christian Spaulding won the javelin with a throw of 67.05 meters (220-0), which fell just short of his HPU school record of 68.19 meters. Coleman won the participation section of the high jump with a team-season best and career-best clearance of 1.94 meters (6-4.25). Sophomore Harris Coley also won his event, the participation section of the pole vault, with a mark of 4.57 meters (15-0).

High Point will remain in the Triad for its next meet, the Aggie Invitational, starting on Friday, April 11 in Greensboro, N.C. The meet will be the final tune-up prior to the Big South Championship on April 17-19 in Rock Hill, S.C.