Women’s Track and Field: Panthers Vault to Success in the VertKlasse Meeting (Men’s story follows)
HIGH POINT, N.C. – The High Point University women’s track and field team completed their 12th Annual VertKlasse Meeting with standout performances from a myriad of Panthers. The Panthers had five student-athletes who finished first in their respective events. Zoe Geis, Sydney Horn, Lindsey Ickes, Olive Allen, and Camryn Harper were the Panthers that placed first in their respective events.
“It was a fun two days,” Coach Mike Esposito said at the conclusion of the 2021 VertKlasse Meeting. “I love how everybody from marketing, facilities, sports information, to administration and all the other coaches, everyone pitches in to run Vertklasse which is quite an operation. It was very well received by the other teams but we do it for our kids and for the sport. Performance-wise, we had quite a few PRs despite what some might say were windy conditions which is a credit to our kids. That is what I was most pleased with. We are getting some kids back in the fold on the sprints side, now we have to get the women back in the fold and start piecing this thing together as we go to conference.”
Geis had a standout performance with a win in the 3000-meter steeplechase. Her time of 10:18.05 was not only a personal best but was also a VertKlasee Meeting record and a Vert Stadium facility record. Geis’ time is currently the 11th fastest time in the country. Geis took control of the race and pushed to extend her lead in the last two laps of the race. Geis finished with a closing lap split of 1:22.06 to finish in first.
Fellow Panther Famke Heinst finished second in the event.
Sydney Horn placed first with a vault of 4.25m in windy home conditions during the second home outdoor pole vault event of her career, fresh off a bar clearance of 4.41m last week at the Texas Relays. Horn had three good attempts at 4.35m, but just nicked the bar in her final attempt. Horn’s clearance of 4.41m is tied for third in the country. Nathalie Elliott finished in third and Mackenzie Horn finished in fourth place in the pole vault.
Ickes finished in first place in the 5000-meter run with a personal best time of 17:06.90. Ickes was paced by Geis, who incredibly ran the first 1500 meters of the 5000-meter run less than two hours after winning the 3000-meter steeplechase, to help pace, Ickes. Ickes’ was incredibly consistent in her lap splits and finished strong with a final lap split of 1:20.37.
Allen finished first in the 1500-meter run with a season-best time of 4:37.95. Allen improved her season’s best time by over two seconds. Harper finished third in the event, with a season-best time of 4:44.67.
It was almost a near flip-flop performance in the 800-meter run as Harper won the 800-meter run with a season-best time of 2:13.87. Allen finished fourth in this event, just a second outside of third place.
Alicia Dawson finished second in the long jump with a season-best mark of 5.97m. Just after completion of the long jump, Dawson turned around and finished third in the triple jump with a mark of 11.67m.
Nyile Facey finished second in the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 14.12. Jordan Morrison continued to impress with a third-place performance and personal best time of 1:02.69 in the 400-meter hurdles. Facey finished fifth in the 400-meter hurdles.
Other notable performances by the Panthers included a third and fourth place performance in the javelin. Freshman Julia Newman finished in third with a throw of 36.96m, while senior Madison Reynolds set a personal best with a throw of 36.92m to finish in fourth. The Panthers also finished in second and fourth in the B group of the pole vault.
Emma Grace finished in second with a personal best vault of 3.20m and fellow freshman Sydney Gallant finished in fourth with a vault of 3.0m. Toni Lamond also set a personal best with her throw of 35.40m in the hammer.
UP NEXT: High Point will be splitting up their team and sending multiple individuals to two different meets on April 9th and 10th. The Panthers will have athletes in action at the Duke Invitational and Combined Events in Durham, NC, and the Aggie Invitational in Greensboro, NC.
Men’s Track and Field: Gore’s 100m/200m ‘Double’ Propels Panthers at the VertKlasse Meeting
HIGH POINT, N.C. – The High Point University men’s track and field team completed their 12th Annual VertKlasse Meeting with marquee performances from numerous individuals. The HPU men’s track and field team finished the meeting with six individual champions. Paul Gore, Austen Cave, Stephen Gray, Ryan Tenor Jr., Daniel Bogle, and Larry Coaxum finished first in their events individually, with Gore winning multiple events.
“It was a fun two days,” Coach Mike Esposito said at the conclusion of the 2021 VertKlasse Meeting. “I love how everybody from marketing, facilities, sports information, to administration and all the other coaches, everyone pitches in to run Vertklasse which is quite an operation. It was very well received by the other teams but we do it for our kids and for the sport. Performance-wise, we had quite a few PRs despite what some might say were windy conditions which is a credit to our kids. That is what I was most pleased with. We are getting some kids back in the fold on the sprints side, now we have to get the women back in the fold and start piecing this thing together as we go to conference.”
Gore completed the rare 100m/200m double with excellent winning performances in both events. Gore finished first in the 100m with a time of 10.69 and won the 200m less than ninety minutes later with a time of 21.37.
Cave finished first in the 10000-meter run with a VertKlasse meeting record with a time of 30:18.97.
His mark shattered the previous VertKlasse meeting record by thirty-nine seconds, a mark which had stood since 2014.
Cave made his move halfway through the race and slowly begin to extend his lead over a runner from UNCG. Cave’s teammate, Spencer Smucker finished third in the race with a time of 30:34.32.
Gray won the 3000-meter steeplechase with a personal best time of 9:30.26. Gray made his move early in the race and came home flying with a final lap split of 1:13.31. Gray’s teammates, Ian Miller and Patrick Kelly finished third and fourth respectively in the race.
HPU freshman Tenor Jr. led the Panther sweep of the javelin as his personal best throw of 58.38m won the event. Rob Greer finished in second with a throw of 57.60m and Wally Sample finished in third with a throw of 50.88m. Tenor Jr. has improved his distance in the javelin in every outdoor track event this season, including a huge leap of 4.76m from his last event.
Bogle won the long jump with a personal best of 7.31m. Freddie Allen finished second behind Bogle with a jump of 7.21m. In the triple jump, Coaxum had a winning performance with a personal best jump of 14.11m.
Other notable performances included Anthony Villavicencio setting the school record in the men’s hammer.
Villavicencio’s mark of 48.96m broke Britton Mann’s mark of 48.10m, which had stood since 2019. Chris Van Niekerk finished second in both the shot put and discus. Kolt Byers set a personal best with a mark of 4.36m in the B group of the pole vault.
Siro Pina Cardona finished second in the 800-meter run.
In the final event of the day, the HPU A relay team finished second in the 4×400 relay with a time of 3:18.20. Gore was the third leg of this relay and he ran the fastest split of the day with a split time of 48.65.
UP NEXT: High Point will be splitting up their team and sending multiple individuals to two different meets on April 9th and 10th. The Panthers will have athletes in action at the Duke Invitational and Combined Events in Durham, NC and the Aggie Invitational in Greensboro, NC.