One school record falls; three Sea Gulls meet provisional qualifying mark at Wake Forest Invitational
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – The Salisbury University track & field team stood up well against some of the toughest competition the country has to offer Friday afternoon. The Sea Gull athletes traveled south to participate in the Wake Forest Invitational, featuring more than 1,500 athletes. The Sea Gulls garnered a trio of top 10 finishes, broke one school record and nearly broke two others on the first day of competition.
Freshman Chelsea Tavik (Glen Burnie, Md.) broke the program record in the women’s shot put for the second meet in a row. Tavik finished eighth in the competition with a put of 41’ 0.5”, nearly two feet better than her previous record set at the Sea Gull Open two weeks ago.
Sophomore Jennifer Houghton (Mt. Laurel, N.J.) also claimed an eighth-place finish in the hammer throw, with a heave of 140’ 2” coming up just nine inches short of a school record. The women saw senior Emily Hammonds (Richmond, Va.) place 11th in the 10,000-meter run with a time of 39:57.73 while teammate Masha Berge (Potomac, Md.) placed 16th, less than five seconds behind Hammonds.
The men had three athletes post numbers good enough to provisionally qualify for the NCAA Division III Championships in late May. Senior Brandon Fugett (Randallstown, Md.) finished second in the shot put with a distance of 55’ 1” to provisionally qualify.
Senior Delannie Spriggs (Owings, Md.), fresh off his national championship in the indoor season, qualified for Saturday’s final in the 100-meter dash. His preliminary time of 10.63 seconds was second fastest in the field, just .08 seconds off his own school record, and provisionally qualifies him for the NCAA championships as well.
Freshman Matt McMurdo (Chalfont, Pa.) bettered his provisional qualifying distance from two weeks ago with a throw in the javelin of 193’ 4”. Junior Brandon Lane (Hillsborough, N.J.) collected a pair of strong finishes, placing 12th in the triple jump with a distance of 42’ 8.25” and taking second in the men’s high jump “B” competition, clearing a height of 6’ 1.5”.
The Sea Gulls will be back in action Saturday, when the event concludes with 26 events taking place.
