WINSTON-SALEM, N.C.— Competing for the fourth time during the 2024 indoor season, the Montreat men's track & field team sent 20 student-athletes on Friday and Saturday to the Camel City Invitational at JDL Fast Track in Winston-Salem, N.C. While taking on NCAA and NAIA athletes across the two days of action, the Cavaliers accrued a pair of event wins, four national standards and one school record.
 
Dustin Blevins captured Montreat's top result from Friday thanks to another spectacular showing in the long jump. The King, N.C. native delivered an NAIA "A" standard mark of 7.13m, good for third place out of 47 jumpers. Blevins' teammate, Gregory Curry II, joined him inside the top 10 as he tied for 10^th overall with a personal-best 6.53m effort.
 
The 4x400m relay team notched the Cavs' other top-5 performance on Friday, finishing fourth of 10 teams. Drew Bryant, Darrian Bonilla, Kaleel Stevenson and Mark Blalock combined for a 3:33.25 race as the only NAIA participants in the event.
 
A trio of 10^th-place times rounded out the major highlights for Montreat during the initial day of action. RJ Terry (6.97 seconds) tied for 10^th out of 31 runners in the 60m prelims, while Cameron Rice utilized his career-best effort (7.15 seconds) to finish 10^th in the 60m qualifying round among a 68-sprinter field. Blalock's 1:30.80 in the 600m proved good enough to outpace 11 of his 21 competitors.
 
Blevins set the tone for Saturday when he picked up right where he left off with an elite-level result in the triple jump. The fifth-year track & field star finished first out of 32 jumpers in the event after leaping an "A" standard distance of 14.66m. Ruchen Blaauw also secured a win Saturday morning by beating out 12 other runners in the 1000m. The Cape Town, South Africa native needed just 2:34.75 to cross the finish line in first.
 
Montreat's final fireworks of the weekend came in the 3000m during the afternoon session. Dylan Branch, who already held the school record in the event, blew past his previous best time by 4.35 seconds. The upperclassman placed ninth in the field of 76 runners, and his 8:28.61 time also met the "A" standard. Caleb Wright finished 18^th in the event, hitting the NAIA "B" standard with a personal-best effort of 8:36.60.
 
For a complete look at the results from the Camel City Invitational, click here.
 
The Montreat men's track & field team jumps right back into competition next Saturday at the Liberty Open, hosted by Liberty University, in Lynchburg, Va.