• Senior Jill Marois set a new HPU outdoor record and posted a top-20 NCAA East mark with a vault of 3.90m (12-9.5) to finish fourth in Raleigh
• Junior Natalia Ocasio tallied a top-10 finish in a strong Raleigh 3000m steeplechase field (10:46.38)
• Junior Erika Bridges (4026) and senior Sara Katherine Kirkpatrick (3949) each registered personal best heptathlon scores at this weekend’s Winthrop Combined Events
RALEIGH, N.C. – Senior Jill Marois continued to take the HPU pole vault program to new heights Saturday, setting a new school record while leading the women’s track & field team on day two of competition at the Raleigh Relays.
Marois vaulted a new HPU best mark of 3.90m (12-9.5) to finish fourth in a strong field. Marois trailed only a pair of 2015 NCAA national meet qualifiers from Duke and Minnesota’s Cami Gilson, who cleared the 3.90m bar an attempt before Marois. The 3.90 mark is currently a top-20 vault in the NCAA East Region this season.
In addition to Marois, senior Alyssa Palenchar put together a vault of 3.65m (11-11.75) to finish seventh.
During Friday’s action in Raleigh, junior Natalia Ocasio made her 2016 steeplechase debut and put together a strong effort, placing ninth in a time of 10:46.38. Fellow junior Cozette Collin registered a time of 4:47.67 in the 1500m run.
Marois set one of three school records for the Panthers this weekend in Raleigh. Sophomore Makenzi Holmes-DiGiovine set the other two. She broke her HPU discus record by four meters while placing 10th in the event with a mark of 44.51m (146-0).
Holmes-DiGiovine also set a new record in the shot put while posting a mark of 12.76m (41-10.5). The original program best of 40-10.5 was set in 2002 by Denise Morgan.
In other Friday action, junior Amanda Gregory missed her PR by just .20m in the long jump, posting a season-best mark of 5.41m (17-9).
Winthrop Combined Events
ROCK HILL, S.C. – A pair of High Point University heptathletes posted top-5 finishes for the Panthers at the Winthrop Combined Events on Thursday and Friday in Rock Hill.
Junior Erika Bridges finished fourth in the heptathlon with a total of 4026 points while senior Sara Katherine Kirkpatrick was fifth with 3949 points. The total of 4026 marked a personal best for Bridges, surpassing her previous top mark of 3983 set at the 2015 Big South Championship. Kirkpatrick also set a new collegiate best by close to 100 points.
Bridges finished second in the long jump portion with an outdoor PR of 4.91m (16-1.5), placed second in the 100m hurdles with a new PR (15.59 seconds) and also placed second in the javelin portion with a mark of 29.46m (96-8).
Kirkpatrick placed second in the 800m run (2:27.05) and set a new PR in the 200m dash while finishing third (26.70 seconds).
The Panthers return to action next weekend to host the eighth annual VertKlasse Meeting. The event will take place April 1 and April 2 inside Vert Stadium.