MOBILE, Ala. – The Samford University track & field program recorded a trio of first place finishes and set one new school record at the University of South Alabama Invitational on Saturday, April 16.

Javion Lee, Sarah Sanford and Courtney Prengaman each took home 1^st place finishes in the men's triple jump, women's 400-meter hurdles and women's high jump respectively while Tray Oates eclipsed the school record in the men's pole vault. Michael Seaman previously set the record back in 2012 with a mark of 5.30m.

Lee turned in a solid day of jumps as he jumped 15.04m to place first in the triple jump then placed 10^th overall in the men's long jump. Marquise Barnes took 2^nd overall in the event with a leap of 7.10m and also placed in the top five of the men's 400 meters with a 4^th place time of 54.95.

Sanford's busy day included her 1^st place finish in the women's 400-meter hurdles with at time of 59.76 while she also placed in the top five with a 5^th place finish in the women's 100-meter hurdles with a time of 14.16. Senior Kimberly Ruch followed closely behind Sanford in the 100-meter hurdles with a Samford Top 10 time of 14.30 to place 7^th overall.

Prengaman missed her overall personal best in the high jump but posted an outdoor best in the event in her 1^st place effort with a leap of 1.69m.

Oates previously tied Seaman's record during the 2015 season but found the extra momentum to push past his personal best on his second attempt at the height. Chris Thrasher followed up Oates with a 5^th place finish in the event with a personal best mark of 4.97m and notched another personal best in the men's javelin with a 3^rd place finish throw of 52.85m.

Tonia McKinley turned in a solid day in the sprints as she placed 3^rd overall in the 100 meters with a personal best time of 12.07 and 9^th overall in the 200 meters with a time of 25.29. Freshman Daijah White tallied a 9^th place finish in the 100 meters with a personal best time of 12.21.

Selena Popp and Jordan Highsmith concluded competition in the women's heptathlon on Friday with both finishing inside the top 10 not only on the day but also in the Samford record book. Popp tallied 4,533 points to place 5^th overall while Highsmith recorded 3,969 points to place 8^th overall.

Other Notable Performances

• Jay Vines notched a personal best in the men's 100-meter hurdles with a 7^th place time of 16.24 and also turned in a 3^rd place finish in the men's 400 meters with a time of 54.49.
• Ben Bryant and Josh Salter turned in personal best performances in the men's 1,500 meters with 6^th & 7^th place times of 4:00.39 and 4:00.87 respectively.
• Austin Billings finished the decathlon with a personal best score of 5,700 points and 7^th place overall finish.
• Brian Smith & Brian Hill represented Samford in the throws events and turned in four Top 10 finishes between the pair.
• Tiana Pisoni and Megan Meadow both finished in the top ten in the women's triple jump as Pisioni placed 7^th (11.55m) and Meadow 9^th (11.50m).
• Tatiana Taylor and Aerial Horton picked up a pair of top ten finishes with Taylor placing in the women's shot put (10^th) and women's hammer (5^th) while Horton placed 7^th in the shot put and 8^th in the hammer throw.