BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The Viking Men's and Women's Track & Field team opened up the 2024 portion of their indoor schedule today at the Vulcan Invite hosted by UAB at the Crossplex in Birmingham, AL. The meet featured teams across all divisions representing the SEC, SunBelt, SoCon, D2, D3, and NAIA schools. The Vikings competed with a partial team in the non-distance events.
On the Men's side, junior Alden McDonald placed 5th in the Pole Vault matching his season best of 4.75m and narrowly missing three attempts at 16'3" which would have been a new Berry Indoor Record and likely NCAA qualifying mark. Four other Vikings competed in the event with junior teammate Connor Johnson jumping a new indoor PR of 4.30m
Sophomore, Dawson Livingston placed 9th in the Weight Throw with a mark of 15.16m in his season debut just missing his own school record by 5cm and is the top mark in the SAA.
Junior, Hayden Raikes advanced to the semi-finals of the 60m Hurdles earning a new lifetime PR of 9.62, a time that currently ranks #2 in the SAA so far this season.
In his first collegiate meet after three seasons representing Berry on the football field, junior, Jaden Melville posted times of 7.25 and 23.77 in the 60m and 200m respectively with both times landing him in the top 8 SAA rankings.
On the Women's side, freshman Julia Shipes jumped out to a great start of her college career with a 1.55m clearance in the High Jump which places her tied for 1st and tops in the SAA early in the season. Sophomore throwers, Avery Jones and Malysha Winston both PR'd in the Weight Throw with throws of 13.65m and 12.61m respectively. Both marks improve on their Berry Top-10 list performances from last season.
In the 400m, Marianna Moell, Emily Kate Thompson, and Macy Murdock all ran solid competitive efforts to start their season with Moell's time of 1:02.39 being a new indoor PR.
"Overall, the meet was what our coaching staff expected after a long 4 week Christmas break from team training and a consistent class schedule. Some good, some not so good, but it gave us a realistic view of where we are at and need to work on in the next few weeks. These early season meets give us some great feedback and we will look to use that to continue to improve. I was pleased with our competitive efforts, even if the results didn't give us great excitement. The freshman got a experience of what collegiate meets are like and that will only help as they grow in confidence." said Coach Luke Syverson.
A small group of Women's field events will compete tomorrow at the Emory Indoor back in Birmingham beginning at 9:30am CT. Live results for that meet can be found at xpresstiming.com.
A full Berry team will be back in action next weekend at SAA foe, Centre College, host of the inaugural SAA Indoor Championship later in February, as they open their new indoor facility on Saturday.
