Columbia Men Track & Field Finish 15th at Kennesaw
KENNESAW, GA - The Columbia College men's track and field team placed 15thoverall out of 28 schools last Friday at the KSU Invitational in Kennesaw, Georgia.
Among NAIA schools competing, the Koala men finished 5th out of 8 with 20 points. CC competed among three Div. I schools in Kennesaw St. Gardner-Webb (NC), and Eastern Kentucky as well as numerous Div. II and Div. III teams.
NAIA Standings: Life, Truett McConnell, Reinhardt, Aquinas, Columbia, TWU, Brenau, and SCAD.
In the men's field events, the Koalas had six men compete in the Hammer Throw with juniors Daylon McDonald and Gavin Rice leading the way placing 19th and 20th with throws of 34.9 and 34.8 meters. Freshman Jarek Asencio then led the Koalas in the Javelin Throw placing 15th out of 25 with a mark of nearly 43 meters (140 ft) while McDonald led the way in the Discus throw with a mark of 37.8 meters to place 17th out of 30. Sophomore Geo Tobias and Asencio also competed and had throws of 33.4 ad 32 meters respectively.
Finally, in the men's Shot Put, the Koalas had four throwers place 17th through 20th all throwing over 11 meters (36-38 ft) led by McDonald in 17th at 11.6 meters. Tobias threw 11.5, freshman Jonathan Davis at 11.46 and Rice at 11.2 meters.
For the jumping events, Columbia was led by freshman Kendell Stroman in the Triple Jump placing 9th with a mark of 12.4 meters (40 ft) while freshman Tyler Dixon was right behind in 10th at 11.6 meters. Dixon then led the Koalas in the Long Jump placing 20th with a mark of 5.64 meters (18 ft)
In the Sprints, Columbia was led by Bradley Tilby placing 12th in 11 seconds in the 100 meters while Jaden Watt-Martin was 19th in 11.4 seconds. Willy Calcano also sprinted to a time of 11.57 seconds to place 25th out of 40.
Linen then led the Koalas in the 200 meters running a time of 22.19 seconds to place 9th out of 50. Calcano then came in 26th as he tied with his teammate Kimarje White in 22.7 seconds. Harris and Stroman also teid for 36th at 23.4 seconds.
In the 400 meters, sophomore Caleb Bailey led the way placing 22nd out of 50 with a time of 50.2 seconds for his personal record while junior Xavier Linen was 31st in 51.4 seconds. Freshman Christian Harris also competed and came in 34th in 52.2.
In the 400 meter Hurdles, Kimarje White set a new school record placing 10th as he came in at 57.4 seconds. The men then placed 4th out of 8 in the 4x100 meter relay in 42.17 seconds for a top 20 time in the NAIA. The relay team consisted of Calcano, Watt-Martin, Bailey, and Tilby.
Women Field Events
Grad Senior Zaida Carson also competed as an individual for the Lady Koalas in the field events placing 5th in the Discus, 8th in the Shot Put and 26th in the Hammer throw. Carson threw the Discus 38.7 meters (126 feet) to place 5th out of 30 competitors. Also placing in the top 20 for the Koalas was junior Darci Dawson in 12th at 35 meters, senior Anaya Canty in 17th at 30.9 meters, and Qusondra Wideman in 20th at 30.1 meters.
Carson's 8th place showing in the Shot Put out of 30 saw her throw a mark of 11.1 meters while Wideman was 12th at 10.6 M. Freshman Azia Holmes threw it 10.34 and Canty was at 10 meters.
Freshman Doreshia McAllister led the Koalas in the Hammer throw palcing 13th out of 34 with a throw of 39.9 meters (131 ft) with Canty right behind in 18th at 38 meters.