Track and Field Hosts Bulldog Invitational
 
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Samford University's track and field team competed in a variety of events when they hosted the Bulldog Invite on Friday at the Birmingham Crossplex.
 
Athletes from Furman, Kennesaw State, Louisiana Tech, McNeese State, South Alabama, South Florida, Southern Illinois, Troy, UAB, Louisiana-Lafayette, and Chattanooga were all present at the meet.
 
Camille Caldwell, Maggie Johnston, and Tatianna Taylor competed in the women's weight throw on Friday morning. Caldwell finished in the top eight after her longest throw of 16.78 meters. Johnston finished 12^th and Taylor finished 16^th with throws of 15.75 and 15.10 meters. Matt Cahoon and Ethan Brown finished 12^th and 13^th on the men's side. Cahoon threw a distance of 13.45 meters and Brown threw a long of 13.43 meters.
 
Hugh Duggan was the only Bulldog to place in the men's pole vault event. He placed third with a high vault of 4.70 meters. In the women's pole vault, Tally Wilson placed fourth overall with a height of 3.65 meters.
 
In the women's shot put, Samford's Maggie Johnston, Camille Caldwell and Tatianna Taylor all competed. Johnston placed 10^th after throwing for 13.03 meters. Taylor placed 16^th with a thrown distance of 11.87 and Caldwell placed 19^th with a distance of 10.86 meters. Matt Cahoon competed in the men's shot put event and placed 14^th overall with a distance thrown of 13.24 meters.
 
Justin Stuckey competed and placed in the men's high jump on Friday, finishing third. The freshman landed a jump of 2.00 meters. Ty Kimberlin also competed in the event and placed ninth with a jump of 1.90 meters. Selena Popp and Charlotte Krause placed in the top ten in the women's division of the high jump. Popp placed seventh with a jump of 1.65 meters and Krause placed ninth with a jump of 1.65 meters. Megan Elliot also competed and finished 15^th after a jump of 1.60 meters.
 
In the triple jump, Morayo Bhadmos once again performed well for the Bulldogs. She finished second overall with a distance of 11.87 meters, just one centimeter off of the first place finisher.
 
In the long jump event, Erin Hines finished third in the women's division after a distance of 5.67 meters. Madeline Ballard and Caroline Huff finished 15^th and 23^rd in the event with distances of 5.22 meters and 4.98 meters.Two Bulldogs competed in the men's long jump. Freshman Justin Stuckey and Sophomore Thomas Ozburn finished eighth and 11^th respectively. Stuckey had a final distance of 6.40 meters and Ozburn had a distance of 6.25 meters.
 
The men's 60-meter hurdles had two Bulldogs place in the top five. Freshman Titus Moore finished third overall in 8.14 seconds and Emmanuel Tait finished fifth in 8.19 seconds. Sophomore Michael McMahan also competed and finished eighth overall in 10.10 seconds.
 
Emmanuel Tait advanced to the finals of the 60-meter dash and earned third overall after a 6.91 second time. Hannah Lueders placed eighth overall for the Bulldogs in women's 60-meter dash with a time of 7.82 seconds.
 
Samford had three finish in the top twelve of the 200-meter dash. Hannah Lueders and Vada Samuels finished in the Top 10 at sixth and eighth. Lueders had a time of 25.02 seconds and Samuels had a time of 25.19 seconds. Erin Hines came in 12^th overall with a time of 25.74 seconds.
 
The women's mile saw two Bulldogs finish in the top five. Mary Grace Strozier and Shian Mallory finished second and fourth with times of 4:53.29 and 5:05.31. Anna Huntington, Hannah Belcher, Lauren Granier and Lindsey Biggar also competed in the event. Huntington finished 12^th, Belcher finished 18^th and Granier finished 19^th. Thorne finished 10^th overall after a time of 5:19.90 and Marchbanks finished 14^th with an official time of 5:35.78. Owen Bailey was the only Bulldog to finish in the men's mile. He placed second overall with a 4:12.65 time.
 
The women's 400-meter run ended with Samford's Vada Samuels placing eighth with a time of 57.85 seconds. Rachel Dixon and Lauren Beard finished 15^th and 16^th for Samford with times of 59.04 and 1:00.59. For the Bulldogs in the men's 400-meter, four competed. Sophomore Warren Fitzpatrick and Junior Jordan Oballe finished seventh and eighth with times of 50.23 and 50.50 seconds. Jake Diggs and Jordan Woodbine finished 10^th and 12^th with overall times of 50.69 and 50.84 seconds.
 
Lindsey Biggar was the only Bulldog to compete in the 800-meter run, placing seventh with a time of 2:23.43. For the men, Ben Garner was the highest-finisher for a Bulldog. Garner finished fourth overall with a time of 1:54.91. The time marks a personal best for the sophomore. Bulldogs also finished from seventh to tenth place in the event. Seth Corey finished seventh at 1:57.33, Jake Maddox finished eighth at 1:57.49, Joyner Bousquet finished ninth at 1:58.30, and Hunter Poole finished tenth with a time of 1:59.03.
 
Freshmen Mary Kellison Thorne and Carter Marchbanks each ran the 3,000 meter run. Thorne finished 12^th with a time of 10:38.97 and Marchbanks finished with a time of 10:46.18 in the event. For the men, senior Ben Bryant finished eighth with an overall time of 8:48.90 and sophomore Sam Katulich placed 11^th after turning in a time of 9:18.49.
 
The Samford men's 4x4 1600 meter run finished third overall with an official time of 3:23.60 in the final event of the day.
 
The Bulldogs will compete as a team again in Lexington, Virginia at the Southern Conference Indoor Championships February 23^rd and 24^th.
 
For all news and results from the Samford University track and field program, follow @SamfordXC_TF on Twitter and @samfordxctf on Instagram.