Track and Field Shine While Hosting Samford Invite
 
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Samford University's track and field teams hosted both the Samford Multi and the Samford Invite this week. The meet was hosted at the Birmingham Crossplex most of the day on Thursday and all day Friday.
 
Teams from Alabama State, Arkansas State, Kennesaw State, McNeese State, Tulane, Louisiana-Lafayette, UAB, and Montevallo all competed over the course of both days.
 
The women's pentathlon consisted of five events and was completed on Thursday. Samford's Selena Popp finished sixth overall with 3,539 total points, including a fourth-place finish in the women's high jump.
 
The men's heptathlon had a total of seven events involved over the course of Thursday and Friday. Ty Kimberlin competed for the Bulldogs and finished in the middle of the pack in 6^th place with a total of 4,501 points. Kimberlin finished strong in the final of the seven events with a third place finish 1,000 meter run.
 
Samford had three compete in the women's weight throw event. Seniors Camille Caldwell and Tatianna Taylor placed third and fifth event with throwing distances of 17.11 and 15.80 meters, respectfully. Junior Maggie Johnston placed eighth with a distance of 15.07 meters. On the men's side, both Matt Cahoon and Ethan Brown competed in the men's weight throw. Each threw for distances over 12 meters. Cahoon finished with a distance of 12.86 meters and Brown finished with a distance thrown of 12.10 meters.
 
Hunter Schlatter competed in the men's pole vault and finished third with a height of 4.55 meters. That vault was the senior's personal best in his four-year Samford career. Samford's Tally Wilson finished with a personal best and in second place today with a successful vault of 3.80 meters in the women's pole vault.
 
In the women's shot put, Samford's Maggie Johnston threw a long of 12.88 meters and placed fourth overall in the event. Matt Cahoon and Ethan Brown both competed in the men's event with throws of 13.40 and 10.55 meters.
 
Justin Stuckey competed and placed in the men's high jump. The freshman landed a 1.95 meter jump and finished third overall in the event. Charlotte Krause also competed in the high jump in the women's division. She finished sixth overall at a height of 1.55 meters.
 
In the triple jump, Morayo Bhadmos worked her way to fourth place after a jumping distance  11.73 meters. For the men, Noah Osburne placed sixth overall with a 12.45 meter jump.
 
The women's long jump event was dominated by the Bulldogs and saw two Samford student-athletes at the top. Erin Hines placed first in the event with a distance of 5.69 meters. Madeline Ballard followed right behind her with a distance of 5.61 meters and finished second overall. Three from Samford competed in the finals of the men's long jump. Freshman Justin Stuckey came in seventh, finishing with a distance of 6.72 meters. Jon Waarvik finished in ninth place overall with longest distance of 6.64 meters and Noah Osburne finished the event in twelfth after a 5.57 meter distance.
 
The men's 60-meter hurdles had two Bulldogs place in the top five. Emmanuel Tait won the event in a time of 8.11 seconds and sophomore Michael McMahan finished fifth overall in 8.40 seconds. The women's 60-meter hurdles ended with Lauren Beard finishing ninth and Erin Hines finishing 11^th overall.
 
Emmanuel Tait and Titus Moore both competed in the finals of the men's 60-meter dash. Tait finished with a time of 6.95 seconds, good enough for fourth overall. Moore finished seventh overall with a 7.11 seconds.
 
The Bulldogs had great success in the women's 200-meter dash with Hannah Lueders and Vada Samuels coming in third and fourth. Lueders finished in 25.01 seconds and Samuels with a time 25.04 seconds in the event. The men's side saw Ben Rooker take 24^th overall at a 24.02 second time.
 
The women's mile was full of Samford athletes. Shian Mallory took home first place in the event running under five minutes and finishing with an official time of 4:55.64, a personal best for her during her Samford career. Mary Grace Strozier was right behind her, also turning in a sub-five minute performance at 4:59.90, a new personal best for her as well. Lindsey Biggar and Anna Huntington came in sixth and seventh place with times of 5:17.15 and 5:22.01. Samford's Owen Bailey won the men's mile event with an official time of 4:11.09, beating out his previous personal best of 4:11.81.
 
The women's 400m dash saw four Bulldogs racing. Junior Rachel Dixon finished in ninth with a 59.97 time. Lauren Beard and Sarah Lee finished the day in 14^th and 15^th with times of 1:02.34 and 1:02.55. Freshman Morgan Hutchinson finished 18^th overall with a time of 1:03.54. Samford had three finish in the top six of the men's 400 meter dash. Freshman Jordan Woodbine placed third after turning in a 50.13 second time. Jordan Oballe finished just behind him in fourth with a 50.14 time and Warren Fitzpatrick finished sixth overall with a time of 50.38 seconds.
 
Karisa Nelson continued her strong start to the 2019 indoor season. She finished first overall in the 800 meter run with a time of 2:05.47. With that time, Nelson now holds the fastest time in in the NCAA in the 800 meter event, a full second and a half faster than Kelsey Harris, who set the mark a week ago. Bulldogs were all over the 800 meter run in the men's division. Samford student-athletes finished in each of the positions from fourth to ninth place. Freshman Jake Maddox finished in fourth with a time of 1:58.17. Joyner Bousquet and Hunter Poole finished fifth and sixth with times of 1:58.20 and 1:58.65. Seth Corey, Will Nichols, and Luke Dobbins rounded out the event in seventh, eighth, and ninth place with times of 1:59.54, 2:01.85, and 2:03.40.
 
The day ended with the men's 3,000 meter race and could not have gone any better for junior Dillon Dean. He had a personal best by eleven seconds and took home first place with a time of 8:24.98 minutes. Brad Cheek finished for the Bulldogs behind him in second place at a time of 8:43.19 minutes and Ben Garner finished fourth overall and put in a time of 8:51.43 minutes.
 
The Bulldogs' track and field team is back in action on February 3 when they compete in the Jaguar Open at the Birmingham Crossplex once again.
 
For all news and results from the Samford University track and field program, follow @SamfordXC_TF on Twitter and/or @samfordxctf on Instagram.