LEXINGTON, Va.— On Friday and Saturday a trio of Montreat men's track & field athletes participated in the heptathlon at the VMI Winter Relays as Davis Nicol, Caleb Wells and Hank Yelton competed in the seven-event contest. Montreat also sent Micah Matheson to pole vault at the meet. The Cavs hit a pair of national standards and bested school records over the weekend.
 
Yelton started Friday off with a win in the 60m dash, clocking in at 7.47 in the 10-athlete field to earn 723 points. Nicol placed eighth in the event (7.84, 607 points) and Wells finished in ninth (8.01, 557 points). In the second event, the long jump, Yelton leapt to 6.22m for second place, amassing another 635 points. Nicol jumped 5.66m (514 points) to place sixth and Wells put in a 5.04m mark (390 points) to end ninth.
 
Wells then launched his throw in the shot put 9.03m to take fifth and tally 428 points. Yelton used a seventh-place throw (8.17m) to add 376 points and Nicol finished ninth with a 7.35m mark (328 points).
 
The high jump concluded the first day of competition. Yelton used a 1.67m clearance to end second and notch 520 points. Nicol cleared 1.49m (381 points) to end seventh, while Wells recorded a 1.46m mark (360 points) to take eighth. After day one, Yelton sat in second with 2254 points, trailing the leader by only 38. Nicol (1830 points) and Wells (1735 points) were eighth and ninth, respectively.
 
On day two, events began with the 60m hurdles, an event that Yelton won with a time of 8.90 seconds to retake the overall lead. The Morganton, N.C. native recorded 768 points, while Wells (10.31; 484 points) ended sixth and Nicol (11.73; 262 points) finished seventh.
 
Nicol performed well in the pole vault, tying for first place after clearing 3.76m to earn 551 points. Yelton vaulted over 3.36m (446 points) to take fourth and pad his advantage to 139 points.
 
In the final event of seven, the 1000m race, Yelton secured his heptathlon victory with a win, crossing in 2:52.08 to collect 744 points. He ended the seven events with 4212 points, 192 more than second place. Yelton's total mark hit the NAIA standard for national qualification in addition to breaking the previous school record. Nicol claimed fifth in the race (3:27.83; 418 points) and fifth overall (3061 points), while Wells placed seventh in the 1,000m (3:48.59; 268 points) and seventh in the heptathlon (2487 points).
 
Matheson vaulted over 4.65m to take third place in the pole vault event and cap off Montreat's performance on Saturday. His mark also hit the NAIA "B" standard for national qualification and tied his own school record.
 
For full results from the meet, click here.
 
Track & field will split its athletes next week as the team heads to both East Tennessee State and the Camel City Invitational in Winston-Salem on Friday and Saturday.