Johnson City, Tenn. – The Belmont men’s and women’s track and field teams had a successful first day at the A-Sun Championships held Friday in Johnson City, Tennessee.

The Belmont men are in third place with 29 points, 20 points behind leader Gardner-Webb. The Bruins won one individual title on Friday and had four top-five finishes. Sophomore Caleb Swartz won the 10,000 meters with a time of 31:51.97. Teammates John Brigham and Jacob Buckman finished second and third respectively. All three earned All-Conference honors. Two more Bruins finished in the top-10 in that event as Kevin Stone placed sixth and Will Peters ninth. In addition, Brandon Grass placed fifth in the pole vault as he tied his school record with a mark of 14-07.25.

On the women’s side, the Bruins are tied for fourth with 18 points, 16 behind leader Gardner-Webb. Three Bruins earned top-five finishes. Junior Christa Coppin won the team’s first individual title as won the pole vault with a mark of 10-11.75. Senior Whitney Thurman finished third in the 10,000 meters with a time of 38:08.45. Sophomore Lynette Rives placed fifth in the long jump with a mark of 17-11.75. In addition, sophomore Lizz Pollock qualified for Saturday’s 100 meter hurdles finals after posting a school record 14.61 in the Friday’s qualifying race.

For complete results from the A-Sun Championships, go to the Atlantic Sun website at www.atlanticsun.org or www.cfpitiming.com.

The second and final day of the championships will begin at 7:00am CT Saturday morning.