BREVARD, N.C. — The Montreat College men's track & field team competed across two meets on Thursday and Friday, opening at the VertKlasse Meeting in High Point, N.C. before wrapping up at the Tornado Classic in Brevard, N.C. With 17 entries across 11 events, the Cavaliers recorded nine top-10 finishes and four personal bests.
Montreat began Thursday at the VertKlasse Meeting, hosted by High Point University, where Hugo Petat-Hemono and Brock Lauer led the Cavaliers in the 3000m steeplechase. Facing NCAA Division I, II and III competition, Petat-Hemono impressed in his event debut, finishing second out of 31 competitors with a time of 9:23.33. Lauer followed with a fourth-place finish and a new personal best of 9:25.76.
Hunter Smathers competed in the 10k on Thursday, placing 10th with a time of 34:03.61. Elijah Eppley ran the 5000m, finishing 34th out of 64 athletes in 16:04.84.
On Friday at the Tornado Classic, a trio of Cavaliers competed in the 400m. David Irabor led the way with a second-place finish out of 13 runners in 51.40 seconds. Mark Blalock ended third, setting a personal best of 52.79, over half a second faster than his previous mark. Ethan Bishop rounded out the group with a 10th-place finish and a personal best of 58.67 seconds.
Drew Bryant placed fifth in the 110m hurdles with a time of 17.21 second, and he also ran the 200m, finishing fifth in 22.89 seconds.
Jordan Pippin claimed first in the 400m hurdles with a time of 59.41 seconds, while Yannick Kabera followed in second at 1:04.40. Kaden Knight concluded the track events for the Cavaliers in the 800m, placing fifth out of 19 runners in 2:04.54.
In the field events, William Wood placed fourth in the discus with a throw of 41.61m, and he also concluded 12th in the hammer throw at 34.19m. Bryant recorded a personal best in the discus at 33.27m for 14th overall, and he added a seventh-place finish in the javelin with a throw of 36.81m.
For full results from the VertKlasse Meeting, click here. For complete results from the Tornado Classic, click here.
Montreat returns to action on April 10-11 for another split squad weekend at the Asheville Bulldog Invite and the Southside Power & Fitness Invitational.
