GAINSVILLE, Fla. – The Samford University men's and women's track & field program produced a productive weekend at the Pepsi Florida Relays on Friday, April 1, & Saturday, April 2, at Percy Beard Track.
Karisa Nelson highlighted the event with her school-record run in the women's 1,500 meters. Nelson raced her way to an 11
th place finish with a time of 4.22.23, which also leads the SoCon this season by 12 seconds.
"Karisa and (Ansley) Bos looked special this weekend." Head Coach
Rod Tiffin said. "I always enjoy seeing runners fight through injuries and setbacks to get back to their personal best. That's what Ansley has done so that was good to see."
"Karisa made a huge step forward this weekend and still has a lot left in the tank." Tiffin continued. "She is a special girl that is very talented and she's just beginning to realize her own potential."
The Bulldogs set another school record on Saturday as the squad of
Sarah Sanford,
Victoria Wicks,
Qiona Payton and
Kimberly Ruch placed 8
th overall in the women's 4x100 shuttle hurdle with a school-record time of 57.89.
"The women's shuttle hurdle relay is a fun relay with people hurdling in every direction." Tiffin said. "It's also a relay that we don't get to necessarily run every year so it was good to see the girls put it all together in the conditions we ran in."
Sanford turned in another top-10 finish as she placed 9
th overall on Friday in the women's 400 meter hurdles with a time of 59.84. Wicks also competed in the event and placed 37
th overall with a personal best time of 1:03.14.
For the men,
Tray Oates and
Marquis Barnes highlighted the performances at the Pepsi Florida Relays on the weekend. Oates placed the highest out of all the Bulldogs with his 2
nd place finish in the pole vault with a 5.15m mark while Barnes turned in a SoCon best mark of 7.06m to place 9
th overall in the men's long jump.
"Tray looked great and cleared a bar that will send him to regionals." Tiffin said. "The rain was on again and off again so the competition was stopped and Tray didn't get to see how he could jump.
Fellow pole vaulter
Austin Eckenroth joined Oates in the top 10 as he placed 7
th overall with his 5.00m vault.
Javion Lee, coming off of an injury, turned in an impressive 12
th place finish in the men's triple jump with a mark of 15.18m.
"Javion keeps getting better each weekend and that's key when coming off of an injury like he had during indoors." Tiffin said.
OTHER NOTABLE PERFORMANCESMarquis Barnes – Men's 400 Meter Hurdles – 46
th – 54.94
Sarah Sanford – Women's 100 Meter Hurdles – 37
th – 13.855
Jay Vines – Men's 400 Meter Hurdles – 45
th – 54.69
Ansley Bos – Women's 1,500 Meter Run – 24
th – 4:29.83 -
Arsène Guillorel – Men's 1,500 Meter Run – 42
nd – 3:54.24 – 2
nd SoCon
Josh Salter – Men's 3,000 Meter Steeplechase – 26
th – 9:41.87
Gavin Gautreau – Men's Pole Vault – 14
th – 4.85m
Aerial Horton – Women's Shot Put – 12
th – 12.72m
