Shelton wins second shot put title, Lions place 8th
HICKORY, N.C. - The Mars Hill men's outdoor track & field team competed in the South Atlantic Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championship Wednesday, April 30th-Thursday, May 1st.
Twenty-Six men qualified for the Championship. The Lions finished the championship in 8th place overall with 40-points scored.
Big highlights included one event win, several top-8 finishes, three trips to the podium, and two New School Records.
Podium finishes
Jesse Shelton continued his dominance in the Shot Put ring, earning the win for his 2nd Outdoor Conference Title in a row. Shelton placed 1st with a throw of 17.65m. Shelton earned 10 points towards the team score.
Jesse followed up his performance in Shot Put with a 2nd place finish in Discus. Shelton's second throw of competition, 50.15m, solidified his place on the podium. Shelton earned 8 points towards the team score.
Jared Benain earned a trip to the podium with a 3rd place finish in Triple Jump. Benain jumped a season best 14.69m on his final jump of competition to move into 3rd. This was Benain's first podium finish and a great way to close out his collegiate career. Benain ends his career as one of the best triple jumpers in program history as he holds the school record in both indoor and outdoor Triple Jump. Benain earned 6 points towards the overall team score.
New School Record
Luke New broke the school record in the Decathlon. This was New's first time competing in a decathlon, a 2-day event consisting of ten track and field events. New placed 4th overall with a combined score of 5.854 points, edging the old school record by 29-points. Luke earned 5 points toward the overall team score.
Day one of competition consisted of the 100m sprint, Long Jump, Shot Put, High Jump, and the 400m. New earned 734 points in the 100m with a time of 11.59s, 630 points in Long Jump with mark of 6.20m, 449 points in shot put with a throw of 9.39m, 758 points in high jump with a mark of 1.95m, and 665 points in the 400m with a time of 53.40s.
Day two of competition consisted of the 110m Hurdles, Discus, Pole Vault, Javelin, and the 1500m run. New earned 603 points in the hurdles with a personal best 17.21s, 395 points in discus with a personal best 26.44m, 631 points in pole vault with a vault of 4.05m, 531 points in Javelin with a throw of 46.10m, and 458 points in the 1500m with a time of 5:18.47.
Jesse Shelton threw a personal best 51.27m in the Hammer Throw. Shelton's attempt broke his own school record. He placed 5th overall and earned 4 points for the team.
Additional Point Scorers
The men's 4x100m relay, consisting of Aiden Burton, Hunter Philyaw, Justin Kwakye, and Malik Laurent placed 5th overall with a time of 42.20s. This was a season best for the crew. They earned 4 points towards the team score.
Iggy Welch earned 2 points for the team with a 7th place finish in Shot Put. Welch threw a personal best 14.58m.
Ashtin Gainey earned 1 point for the team with an 8th place finish in Discus. Gainey threw a personal best 41.94m.
Additional Meet Highlights
On the Track
Sean Sanchez qualified in both the 1500m run and the 500m run. Sanchez set personal bests in both events. Sanchez placed 14th in the 1500m run with a time of 4:00.05. Sanchez placed 13th in the 5000m run with a time of 15:23.57.
Brandon McNulty qualified in both the 3000m Steeplechase and the 5000m run. McNulty placed 17th in the steeplechase with a personal best time of 10:22.58. McNulty placed 25th in the 5000m run with a time of 16:17.51.
Braxton Cummings qualified in the 3000m Steeplechase. Cummings placed 19th overall with a time of 10:47.77.
Mason Smith qualified in the steeplechase as well, placing 20th overall with a personal best time of 11:26.13.
Matthew O'Connor, Eli Taylor, and Charles Fuerneisen all qualified for the 10,000m run. O'Connor led the way for the Lions with a time of 33:26.39, placing 14th overall. Taylor placed 15th with a time of 33:56.77. Fuerneisen placed 17th with a time of 35:23.46.
Malik Laurent, Hunter Philyaw, and Aiden Burton qualified for the 100m sprint. Laurent placed 25th with a time of 11.08s. Philyaw placed 27th with a time of 11.10s. Burton placed 31st with a time of 11.20s.
Levi Hill placed 10th in the 110m Hurdles with a time of 15.89s.
In the Field
Iggy Welch placed 10th in discus with a throw of 40.96m and 19th in the hammer throw with a mark of 39.35m.
Justus Shelton placed 13th in discus with a throw of 39.86m and 13th in Javelin with a throw of 42.67m.
Will Wainwright placed 10th in Shot Put with a personal best 14.03m and 15th in Discus with a throw of 39.99m.
Makhi Edgecombe placed 228th in discus with a throw of 34.08m and 28th in Shot Put with a throw of 11.41m.
Ashtin Gainey placed 11th in Shot Put with a throw of 13.99m.
Brennon Craig placed 19th in Javelin with a throw of 36.26m.
Jared Benain placed 22nd in Long Jump with a mark of 6.15m.
Jaidyn Hicks placed 24th in Long Jump with a personal best 6.10m
Hank Bowen placed 25th in Long Jump with a mark of 6.05m.
Meet Results: https://www.athletic.net/TrackAndField/meet/576722/results
