• Senior Will Narramore posted a pair of top-4 finishes and set a new outdoor PR in the long jump (7.08m, 23-2.75)
• Senior Jim Wilson set a new collegiate best with a mark of 45.79m (150-2) in the discus throw
• Senior Nick Hula placed fifth in the 400m hurdles with a season-best time of 56.30 seconds
HIGH POINT, N.C. – The High Point University men’s track & field team wrapped up the 2016 VertKlasse Meeting with a number of solid performances Saturday before a capacity crowd inside Vert Stadium.
“We look forward to this meet all year long,” head coach Mike Esposito said. “It truly is an honor to look up in the stands, head over to the throws and jumps areas and see more than 3,000 people at our event. I think we put on a good show and I hope teams continue to come back and make this event even better in the future.”
Senior Will Narramore provided a duo of highlights for HPU to lead the way Saturday. First, he continued his outstanding 2015-16 season with another PR en route to a fourth-place finish in the long jump. Narramore improved in his first three attempts (6.42m, 6.97m, 6.85) before setting a new collegiate best on his first jump of the finals (7.08m, 23-2.75).
Narramore followed up that effort with a second-place finish in the triple jump. The Nashville product jumped 14.86 (48-9) on his opening attempt and finished less than two tenths of a meter behind the eventual champion from Monmouth.
In top-2 heat competition during the main portion of the event, HPU’s 4x100m relay team of sophomore James House, Narramore, senior Andrew Kuras and freshman Sean Banda finished third with a strong time of 41.78 seconds.
Senior Dennis Crawford ran an efficient race in the 110m hurdles to place fifth out of 13 strong competitors with a time of 14.63 seconds. Crawford also placed fifth in the participation section of the 400m hurdles with a time of 55.53 seconds.
Fellow senior Nick Hula placed 10th in the top section of the 400m hurdles in a season-best time of 56.30 seconds.
In the 800m run, freshman Alejandro Torres posted a good time of 1:55.73 in his collegiate debut in the event, while senior Paul O’Donoghue was 13th in 1:56.07.
Sophomore sprinter James House didn’t run his best Saturday in the 100m dash but still put together a time of 10.77 seconds to finish 10th amongst a strong field. Unattached professional runner Chris Royster won the event with a time of 10.40 seconds.
Freshman Sean Banda returned from illness to make his 100m dash debut Saturday and finished ninth in the participation section with a time of 10.91 seconds. Senior Andrew Kuras was 20th in 11.05 and freshman Brad Kanney placed 65th in a PR of 11.66 seconds.
Kuras finished 27th in the 200m dash participation heats (22.52) and Banda was 55th (23.09) out of 103 competitors.
In the participation section of the 800m run, freshman Patrick Van Der Cruyssen placed 24th out of 67 runners in a time of 1:59.30.
Freshman Britton Mann began the day for HPU in the throws events and finished 27th with a mark of 38.09m (124-11).
HPU thanks all who attended the VertKlasse Meeting this weekend. The Panthers return to action next weekend (Apr. 8-9) at the Bill Carson Invitational hosted by East Carolina University.