WINSTON-SALEM, N.C.— Competing for the second time in three days, the Montreat College men's track & field team journeyed to Winston-Salem, N.C. on Saturday for the first of four trips to JDL Fast Track this year. Closing out their season-opening weekend with the Visit Winston-Salem College Kick-off, the Cavaliers' 21 entries accounted for eight top-20 finishes and eight personal bests.
 
Fresh off an All-American performance at the NAIA Cross Country Championships, Ryan Stade continued to lead the Cavs on Saturday. The Marysville, Kan. native achieved the highest placement of any Montreat student-athlete by finishing fifth out of 26 competitors in the 5000m. Stade's 14:53.79 showing was only bested by four Wake Forest University runners.
 
Also an All-American last month, Brock Lauer paced a group of four Cavaliers in the 3000m. Notching a personal-best time by 0.29 seconds, Lauer's 8:38.56 effort proved good enough for eighth out of 48 participants. Hugo Petat-Hemono made his debut in the event, placing 15^th with a time of 8:50.15. Philip Riddle also registered a top-20 performance by shaving 11.15 seconds off his prior career-best mark. The junior's 8:57.90 time was the 18^th-fastest on Saturday. Like Petat-Hemono, Elijah Eppley (23^rd; 9:15.66) also debuted in the event.
 
Lauer's 3000m result wasn't his only top-20 showing of the weekend. The McPherson College transfer utilized a time of 4:28.47 to end 16^th of 48 runners in the mile. Riddle (25^th; 4:37.19) and Eppley (27^th; 4:45.29) joined Lauer again on the banked track.
 
Raymond English delivered a top-20 performance on Saturday in the 60m hurdles, while Drew Bryant turned in a personal-best time. The former finished 12^th out of 33 competitors with his 8.61-second dash, while the latter tallied the 29^th-quickest time (9.32 seconds).
 
Two additional Cavs landed inside the top 20 of their respective events at JDL Fast Track. Jordan Pippin's personal-best time of 51.18 seconds garnered himself 18^th place out of 52 400m runners. Meanwhile, in the field events, Bryant tied for 18^th in the high jump. The Candler, N.C. native's 1.79m mark was just 0.01m shy of matching his career-best effort, which was set earlier this week at the Montreat College Track & Field Exams.
 
A trio of Montreat student-athletes achieved personal-best times Saturday afternoon in the 200m. Out of 65 sprinters, Bryant crossed the finish line in 22.72 seconds, good for 26^th. Cameron Rice ended just a few spots back in 30^th thanks to his 22.78-second dash. English needed 23.82 seconds to place 53^rd overall.
 
Senor Glenn managed to slash 2.41 seconds off his top collegiate 800m showing in Winston-Salem. The sophomore from Atlanta raced to a 23^rd-place time of 2:04.46. His teammate, Sam Duncan, finished right behind him in 24^th with a 2:05.67 performance.
 
For a complete look at results from the Visit Winston-Salem College Kick-off, click here.
 
With more than a month off for Christmas break, the Montreat College men's track & field team returns next to competition on Jan. 16-17 when it participates at the Tryon Collegiate Opener in Mill Spring, N.C.