CLEVELAND, Tenn.— The Montreat men's and women's track and field teams sent athletes to one more regular-season meet prior to the NAIA National Championships as the squads competed at the Lee University Last Chance Meet on Saturday. Participating against athletes from all collegiate levels, the Cavaliers hit numerous NAIA national standards and broke multiple school records.
 
Ruchen Blaauw and Dylan Branch highlighted the meet for Montreat as the two each easily beat the NAIA "A" standard in the 1,500m run. Blaauw crushed the previous school record and the "A" standard barrier by more than five seconds as he raced to the second-fastest time in the NAIA this year (3:47.87). Blaauw's result meant an eighth-place finish, while Branch crossed 16^th at the meet. Branch also bested the "A" standard and school's prior mark with a top-10 NAIA time of 3:51.31.
 
Caleb Silver led a group of three Cavaliers in the 800m race as he tallied another "A" standard. The senior from Smithfield, N.C. completed his laps in 1:52.34 to end 24^th out of the packed field of 63 runners.
 
In the field, Dustin Blevins leapt to the second-longest triple jump mark in the country during outdoor season. Blevins, who easily met the NAIA "A" standard, was one of three athletes to best the meet record as he punched his ticket to nationals and broke the previous school record with a massive result of 15.15m to finish second.
 
JaJa Davis notched a fourth-place finish thanks to a 16.55m launch in the shot put. Davis, who ended as the top NAIA finisher at the meet, hit the NAIA "A" standard with his throw. He added another top performance for the Cavs in the discus, recording a mark of 45.75m, which was good enough for seventh place.
 
Travion Smith collected Montreat's quickest time in the 100m dash prelims, crossing 30^th with a time of 10.83 seconds. Smith then ran the 200m in 21.93 seconds (21^st). Hank Yelton added a 51.02-second result in the 400m to place 25^th, while Aidan Reyna finished 70^th in the 5,000m (16:06.37).
 
Blevins captained a trio of Cavaliers in the long jump as the sophomore registered a leap of 6.80m to end 20^th. Micah Matheson cleared the sixth-best height in the pole vault, recording a mark of 4.48m in the event.
 
On the women's side, Yessenia Castellanos crossed the finish line 19^th in the 800m with a time of 2:18.91. In the 1,500m run, Mahaley Cronk broke the school record to place 15^th. The West Jefferson, N.C. native ran an NAIA "B" standard time of 4:42.88 to capture the institution's top mark in program history, which had stood for five years.
 
Jessica Gakeri competed in the field for the Cavs, breaking the school record and notching an NAIA "A" standard in the triple jump. Gakeri leapt 11.81m to best her own school mark and conclude the event in seventh place.
 
For the full results from Lee, click here.
 
The track and field teams now turn their attention to the NAIA National Championships, which are scheduled to take place from May 25 through May 27 at Mickey Miller Blackwell Stadium in Gulf Shores, Ala.