Mocs post PRs in multiple races at UAB Spring Invite

The Chattanooga women’s outdoor track team show much improvement in its second meet of the season placing eight in the Top 10 on Day Two of the UAB Spring Invite this past Saturday.

“We had a very good today,” Mocs head coach Andy Meyer said. “We were able to score in various events outside our traditional strength. Many of the girls and a couple of the guys were definitely on form running and jumping to new personal bests. Coach [Mike] Gadson and Coach [Ty] Griffin had the kids ready for this meet.”

After placing third in the 1500 meter Friday afternoon, Nicole Buehrle followed it up by blowing past her PR in the 800 meter run and placing third overall. She was a full two seconds faster than the time she posted in the season-opener at 2:13.56.

Emmy Davis and Faith Brown each posted PRs in the race with Davis finishing seventh at 2:17.90 and Brown 15th with a time of 2:25.72.

“Nicole and Emmy again maintained great positioning throughout the race,” Meyer said. “Both ran great races and showed great improvement over the last race.”

In the opening race Saturday morning, the Mocs placed all four runners in the Top 10 with Lesley Green, Ashton Hagood and Emma Russum running their first 5000 meter distance in the outdoor season.

“Lesley had a great race with Ashtyn and Emma,” Meyer said. “They all followed the race plan exactly and were able to get faster each mile of the race going 5:45, 5:44 and 5:39 before closing with a fast 200m finish.”

Lesley Green placed fourth in the race, eclipsing her indoor PR by 8.78 seconds with a time of 17:53.70. Ashtyn Hagood was behind her in fifth at 18:07.96 while Emma Russum placed eighth overall with a time of 18:17.83. Makenzie Jones was the Mocs fourth finisher placing 10th overall.

“Placing four in the Top 10 was a great team effort,” Meyer said.

Mackenzie Williamson improvement over her last meet showed with a personal best 12.23 in the 100 meter dash. She also ran a PR in the 200 meter dash with a time of 25.75.

“McKenzie continues to improve with each meet and ran a flying 100 and placed sixth overall,” Meyer said.

Kimbra Dunning ran a PR 12.91 in the 100 meter and improved in the long jump as well, She outdistanced her previous best jump with a leap of 5.44 meters. Mikah Charley also gained in the long jump with a PR 4.79.

“Kimbra was able to jump her way into the finals,” Meyer said. “She was the sixth seed heading in and was able to improve that to a fifth place finish.”

The Chattanooga men’s cross country team took part in the 5000 meter with Jonathan Boyd leading the group with a fifth place finish with a time of 15:34.99. Ryan Phillips was ninth overall at 15:50.04.

Former Carson-Newman and Gordon Lee High School runner, Jasper Wilson, clocked in at 16:10.05 as the sophomore finished 13th. Kaigen Mulkey (16:17.37) was 16th.

“The guys did well especially Jonathan Boyd,” Meyer said. “He was able to stay in touch with the lead pack after falling off a bit. He showed great mental focus getting back to the main pack and was able to surge through the pack and have a great race.”

The women’s placed eighth overall in the scored race against some much tougher competition that included Southern Conference foes Samford and East Tennessee State as well as Arkansas State, Jacksonville State, host UAB and Emory.

“We showed a significant improvement over the last meet and the kids raced so well,” Meyer said. “I’m so excited for them and their improvement in the next few weeks leading up to our conference meet.”

The Southern Conference Championships will take place May 1-2 in Cullowhee, N.C., hosted by Western Carolina.