(SEWANEE, Tenn.) – The Piedmont University track and field program traveled to the Mountain Laurel Invite on Saturday afternoon as a select group of sprinters and jumpers joined the throwers in weekend competition. The record-setting meet was highlighted by a record-breaking performance from senior Nakiyah Washington and individual event wins from seniors Sam Seymour, Cortney Brown and Wes Rogers.
Washington claimed first place in the women’s shot put, while finally breaking the Piedmont school record she had set in 2021. She had been close to breaking the record twice over the past month and has now broken it with an 11.90m toss. Washington also found success in the meet in other field events, placing fifth in the women’s hammer (36.71m), seventh in the women’s discus (32.34m) and second in the women’s javelin (31.23m).
Seymour claimed her event win in the women’s triple jump with a PR performance of 10.43m. She also placed third in the women’s long jump with a best jump of 4.58m and claimed fourth in the women’s 200m with a time of 30.36.
In the men’s pole vault, Rogers claimed first place by over half a meter, posting a best height of 3.50m. This marks the second time in 2024 Rogers has won the pole vault, with the first coming during the indoor season.
Brown once again won the women’s javelin toss, making this the second time in under a month she has won the event. Her best distance of 34.45m is over a meter better than her winning distance at the GottaRun Invite. She also placed 10th in the women’s shot put at Sewanee with a 9.29m mark.
Freshman Johnny Taylor had a solid meet, claiming three top-ten finishes. He placed tenth in the men’s 100m dash (11.79), fifth in the men’s long jump (5.83m) and placed fourth in the men’s triple jump (11.86m). Just behind Taylor in the long jump was fellow freshman Franklin Brown Jr. in seventh (5.60m).
Piedmont found additional success in the women’s shot put as freshman Kayla Ward placed fourth with a best toss of 10.75m. The freshman also secured tenth in the women’s discus (30.75) and tenth in the women’s hammer (32.39m). In the men’s shot put, sophomore Kerrigan McClain placed seventh with a toss of 11.27m.
Claiming fourth and leading the pack, freshman Matthew Blocksom posted a best toss of 35.15m in the men’s discus. Fellow freshman Ethan Butler-Paige followed directly behind in fifth (34.65m) while freshman Tucker Pulliam claimed tenth (30.30m). In the women’s discus, junior Allie Feltus led the group in second place (36.44m) while freshman Shealee Gallegos secured fourth (34.53m). Gallegos also went on to claim sixth in the women’s hammer (35.64m) while Feltus earned eighth (35.09m). Junior Abby Mauldin also earned a top-ten finish in the same event, claiming seventh place with a toss of 35.34m.
Butler-Paige and McClain both went on to have success in the men’s hammer toss, with Butler-Paige earning second place with a 39.38m toss and McClain earning seventh with a 34.56m toss.
Grabbing a top-five finish, senior Wren Greubel placed fifth in the women’s javelin toss with a distance of 28.40m. Placing behind her in eighth was junior Ileyna Brooks with a distance of 26.27m.
Adding another top-ten performance to his success in the men’s discus, Pulliam turned in a fourth-place finish in the men’s javelin toss. Leading the Lions, his fourth place distance of 41.70m was followed by Butler-Paige in fifth (39.92m) and senior David Anderson in tenth place (31.84m).
Up next, Piedmont has just one meet left before conference, competing at the Cole Piper Open in Maryville, Tenn. on Saturday, April 27.
