Bailey & Oates Cap Off Week At War Eagle Invitational

Friday, April 21

Auburn, Ala.

All Day

Samford University

War Eagle Invitational

Samford’s Tray Oates, an All-American in the pole vault, nearly set the facility record with a height of 5.47 meters Saturday to handily take first place.

Bailey & Oates Cap Off Week At War Eagle Invitational

4.22.17 | Track and Field

The Bulldogs earn 11 top-five finishes on Saturday alone at the talent-laden competition

Final Results

AUBURN, Ala. -- On the final day of competition at the 2017 War Eagle Invitational, the Samford University track and field team received a pair of championship performances Saturday as sophomore Owen Bailey and junior Tray Oates both finished first in their respective events held at the Hutsell-Rosen Track on the campus of Auburn University.

Bailey, Samford's gifted long-distance runner from Woodstock, Georgia, dominated the field in the men's 5,000-meter as he cruised to the title in 15:17.82. Bailey topped the closest competitor by nearly 21 seconds and was joined in the top five by teammate Michael Rohdy, who posted a time of 16:07.08 to take fourth place.

In the men's pole vault competition Saturday, the Bulldogs not only finished with two student-athletes in the top five, but three.

Samford's Oates, an All-American in the event, nearly set the facility record with a height of 5.47 meters to handily take first place. He bested second-place Barclay Angle of Ole Miss by .42 meters to earn the win.

Also in the pole vault, the Bulldogs' Gavin Gautreau placed third with a height of 5.05 meters, while teammate Chris Thrasher finished fourth at 4.60.

Presley Weems, Samford's freshman phenom from Hoover, turned in a second-place performance in the women's 800-meter run Saturday. She finished second in the event with a time of 2:10.18, but as the top collegian. Kimi Ficence, who ran attached, placed first with a tally of 2:07.28.

The Bulldogs' Sarah Fairchild, also a freshman, earned a sixth-place finish in the competition with a time of 2:16.23.

Samford's women also excelled in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, high jump and discus throw.

Junior Anna Long registered a third-place finish in the steeplechase by posting a time of 11:22.35. Then, the Bulldogs' Courtney Prengaman, Carrie Neill and Selena Popp finished fifth, 10^th and 11^th in the high jump with respective heights of 1.70, 1.65 and 1.60 meters.

Freshman Maggie Johnston, one of the many rising stars for Samford this season, earned fourth place in the discus throw Saturday with a hurl of 49.33 meters. Sophomore Camille Caldwell also turned in a solid performance in the event as she placed eighth with a distance of 43.23 meters.

Back on the men's side, the Bulldogs' Keyth Fightmaster continued to shine during this outdoor season. Only a junior, Samford's talented native of Calhoun, Georgia, earned a third-place finish in the high jump competition by clearing a height of 2.07 meters.

Marquis Barnes, the Bulldogs' junior native of Carrollton, Georgia, placed fourth in the long jump Saturday with a distance of 7.41 meters.

The War Eagle Invitational featured a large field this weekend. Along with Samford and the homestanding Auburn Tigers, the two-day event also included participants from Alabama, Alabama A&M, Alabama State, Chattanooga, Coastal Carolina, Jacksonville, Kent State, Middle Tennessee, Ole Miss, South Alabama, Troy, Vermont, Virginia Tech and Yale.

The Samford University track and field teams will next be in action May 11-12, as the Bulldogs compete in the 2017 Southern Conference Outdoor Championships. Samford will be hosting the prestigious event this season at the Samford Track and Soccer Stadium.

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Final Results