BLACK MOUNTAIN, N.C.— The Montreat College men's track & field team opened its 2026 indoor season on Thursday with the Montreat College Track & Field Exams, a home indoor/outdoor meet at Pulliam Stadium in Black Mountain, N.C. With 20 entries scattered across nine events, the Cavaliers saw their student-athletes notch four victories to go along with a pair of personal bests.
In total, three of the Cavs' wins came in field events. Contending as an individual,
Gabe Suddreth grabbed Montreat's initial triumph of the afternoon, beating out a field of seven participants in the shot put. The second-year athlete topped his fellow competitors with a mark of 11.64m. Meanwhile,
William Wood made his debut in the event, placing fourth thanks to a 10.45m effort.
The Cavaliers swept the long jump and triple jump to round out their field event dominance.
William Murphy III delivered a 6.61m showing to claim the long jump victory out of five total participants. His teammates
Drew Bryant and
Austin Johnson weren't far behind. The former ended second at 6.34m, while the latter placed fourth behind a 6.27m performance. Johnson then turned around and won the triple jump, doing so with a 12.32m mark. The freshman bested Murphy III in the event as the Kernersville, N.C. native finished runner-up at 12.19m.
Montreat's final triumph at its home meet occurred in the mile. The Cavs went one-two in the race, with
Hugo Petat-Hemono leading the way. Making his event debut, the newcomer topped six other competitors with a time of 4:29.63.
Matthew Morin concluded one spot back of Petat-Hemono by registering a 4:34.30 time.
Two events featured personal bests by Cavaliers. In the 600m,
Jordan Pippin was the first of four Cavs to cross the finish line consecutively. By shaving 2.69 seconds off his prior top time, Pippin's 1:24.30 effort proved good enough for fourth place out of eight runners.
Sam Duncan (fifth; 1:28.10),
Mark Blalock (sixth; 1:29.51) and
Ethan Bishop (seventh; 1:38.67) raced in the 600m as well.
Back in the field events, Bryant also showed his mettle during the high jump. Tying for the third best mark of the day, Bryant eclipsed his previous career height by 0.01m. The upperclassman ultimately cleared 1.80m.
For a complete look at results from the Montreat College Track & Field Exams, click
here.
Right back in action this Saturday, the Montreat College men's track & field team travels to Winston-Salem, N.C. for the Visit Winston-Salem College Kick-off at JDL Fast Track. Field events are slated to begin at 9:30 a.m., while running events commence at 10 a.m.
