• Senior Will Narramore finished second in the long jump with a PR of 7.54m (24-9)
• Redshirt-senior Jeff LaCoste placed third in the 10000m run (31:29.63)
• James House (200m) and Nick Hula (400m hurdles) qualified in preliminary action for Thursday finals
LYNCHBURG, Va. – High Point University seniors Will Narramore and Jeff LaCoste began their final league meets with a bang Tuesday to lead the High Point University men’s track & field on day one of the Big South Outdoor Championship.
The duo combined for 14 points on the day to put the Panthers in the top-4 through three events. Liberty leads with 27, followed by Coastal Carolina and Campbell (23), High Point (14) and Winthrop (11).
Narramore, a senior, improved upon his personal best long jump mark with an excellent leap of 7.54m (24-9), just .23m behind the No. 1 ranked long jumper in the country (CSU’s Braxton Drummond). Narramore’s jump came on the third of his flight and earned him a second-place finish overall in the event. The mark also pushed Narramore a critical 14 spots up the NCAA East qualifying list, moving him from No. 41 to No. 27 with just two weeks to go until NCAAs. The top–48 qualify for NCAA preliminary action in Jacksonville.
On the track, LaCoste ran his first 10k of the season and did so with aplomb, registering a solid time of 31:29.63 and a third-place showing. LaCoste’s time was just a minute off of his PR and placed him behind only Campbell’s duo of Amon Terer and Lawrence Kipkoech who rank in the top-10 of the NCAA East Region in the event.
“Will really jumped well today,” head coach Mike Esposito said. “He’s a big meet performer and really enjoys competing when the pressure is on. This mark puts him in great position for NCAAs in a couple weeks. I also was very proud of Jeff’s race. He’s battled through some struggles this season and he really stepped up for our team today.”
In addition to LaCoste, junior Chernet Sisay placed ninth in the 10k in his first action of the outdoor season due to injury, while freshman Bryan Gonzalez placed 10th.
In Tuesday qualifying action, sophomore James House won his 200m dash heat with a personal-best time of 21.72 seconds. The time advances him to Thursday’s final. Also in the race, freshman Sean Banda finished 15th (22.37) while fellow freshman Christian Langston was 22nd (23.61).
Senior Nick Hula also qualified in the 400m hurdles while running a season-best time of 56.14 seconds. He placed sixth overall in the preliminary.
In the only throwing final of the day, freshman Britton Mann finished 11th in the hammer throw with a mark of 36.76m (120-7).
The Panthers continue competition at the Big South Championship Wednesday beginning with the discus at 9 a.m.