Men’s Track and Field Shines in Outdoor Debut at Coastal Carolina
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Belmont men's track and field team opened the 2011 outdoor season in fine fashion over the weekend with a strong performance at the Coast Carolina Invitational. The Bruins closed the two-day meet with 20 top-25 finishes.
In the distance running events, freshman Marcus Bridger-Wilkinson (Newbury, England) led the way for the Bruins, winning the 1500m with a time of 4:00.70. Sophomore Josh Helton (Franklin, Tenn.) nabbed a seventh-place finish (4:03.99) and senior Clay Hannah (Lebanon, Tenn.) took 18th (4:07.66) in the event. Bridger-Wilkinson also took third in the 800m with a time of 1:57.27, less than one second off a second-place finish. Also finishing well in the event were Helton, who took eighth (2:00.34), freshman Tyler Newkirk (Atchison, Kan.), who was 17th (2:02.26) and classmate Brien Pafford (Jacksonville, Fla.), who rounded out the BU presence in the event with a 23rd-place finish (2:04.00). In the 5000m, senior Kip Hill (Liberty, Mo.) paced the Bruins with a fifth-place finish in 15:14.13. Sophomore Matt Miller (LaPorte, Ind.) took seventh (15:26.43), followed by classmate Brandon Mahaney (Lafayette, Tenn.) and freshman Evan Scruton (Columbus, Ind.), who took 11th (15:33.27) and 21st (16:22.26), respectively.
Senior Matt Fiedler (LaGrange, Ill.) and freshmen Zach Gray (Lee's Summitt, Mo.) and Caleb Darnell (Lafayette, Tenn.) fared well in the hurdles. In the 100mH, Gray took 11th (15.45) while Fiedler was 31st in a very deep field. In the 400mH, Gray finished eighth (55.14) followed by Darnell in 20th (58.02).
BU's 4x800m Relay team was edged from a first place finish by less than four-tenths of a second, crossing the line in 7:54.91.
Fiedler and Gray also represented BU in the field events. Fielder placed sixth in the high jump with a mark of 1.85m. In the long jump, he took 12th (6.38m) while Gray was 18th (6.10m). Fiedler also competed in the deep javelin field, finishing 17th with a strike of 44.01m.
Belmont returns to action on March 19 at the day-long Austin Peay Spring Fling.
