Men's Track & Field Finish 6th at AACs

release by student intern, Jada Robinson

COLUMBIA, S.C. - The Columbia College men's track and field team competed in the 2024 AAC Championship, over the past weekend, April 19-20 at nearby Columbia International University.  The Koala men did an impressive job by finishing in 6th place out of 13 schools with 46 points. They finished just a few points behind CIU for 5th. Milligan won the AAC Meet followed by Montreat, Reinhardt, Truett, and CIU.

In the men's field events, the Koalas had 3 men compete in the Hammer Throw with two juniors leading the way including Daylon McDonald with a Personal Record and Gavin Rice  placing 11th and 13th respectively with throws of 40 and 38.5 meters. Sophomore Benjamin Marabella placed 20th with a mark of 28.4 meters.

Freshman Jarek Asencio then led the Koalas in the Javelin Throw on Thursday placing 9th out of 15 with a mark of 44.6 meters. 

In the Discus on Saturday, Daylon McDonald placed 13th of 23 with a mark of 36.5 meters. Sophomore Geo Tobias placed 16th with a mark of 34.3 meters. Finally, in the Shot Put on Saturday, Tobias placed 7th out of 18 with a Personal Record of 13.1 meters while McDonald finished 14th at 10.6 meters.

For the jumping events, freshman Tyler Dixon placed 14th in the Long Jump on Friday with a mark of 5.9 meters. For the Triple Jump on Saturday, Freshman Kendell Stroman hit a Personal Record of 13 meters to place 5th out of 8. 

In the Sprints, Columbia was led by Freshmen Bradley Tilby in the 100 meter dash as he placed 6th out of 25 with a time of 10.85 seconds. Junior Jaden Watt-Martin then finished 14th with a time of 11.06 seconds. Freshmen Willy Calcano placed 15th with a time of 11.07 seconds.  

Junior Xavier Linen then led the Koalas in the  200 meters on Saturday running a time of 22.5 seconds to place 8th out of 13 while fellow junior, Watt-Martin then came in 9th with a time of 22.56 seconds.  

In the 400 meters on Friday night, sophomore Caleb Bailey led the way placing 5th out of 23 in a time of 49 seconds while freshman Kimarje White was 9th in 49.4 seconds.  Linen then placed 10th with a time of 49.7 seconds.

The men also did very well in the 4x400 relay placing 3rd with a time of 3:24.04 in the final event on Saturday with the team consisting of Bailey, Linen, Stroman, and freshman Christian Harris as he ran the fastest leg of the bunch in 48.6 seconds to beat all his competitors down the stretch during his leg of the relay.

In the 110 meter Hurdles on Friday, two freshmen, Deshawn Mungo and Kimarje White each placed 7th and 9th respectively with times of 15.9 and 16.4 seconds in the 12-man field. In the 400 meter hurdles on Saturday, White then set a new school record placing 4th out of 13 as he came across in 56.7 seconds, earning five team points.

Lastly, in the 4x100 meter relay , the men went on to place 4th out of 8 in 42.1 seconds in the AAC Outdoor Championships. The relay team consisted of Calcano, Linen, Bailey, and Watt-Martin.