Big Blue's Brown wins second straight outing in triple jump
Mar. 21—MORGANTOWN — Freshman Darius Brown won the triple jump Saturday to lead Bluefield State's track and field teams at the Stan Romanoski Open, hosted by West Virginia University.
Brown remains undefeated for the outdoor season through two competitions and is ranked number eight in the NCAA Division II Atlantic Region and among the nation's top 50.
Pacing the women's squad, Khrisalyn Kegler led a quartet of B-State women to top-eight finishes in the women's 400-meter hurdles. Her third-place effort was followed by Raelyn Vadala, Kayla Havens, and Arianna Wickliff in fourth through sixth places, respectively.
"We had a nice showing," said B-State Head Coach Brooks Rexroat. "In an unscored meet, we took our foot off the pedal a little bit in terms of event volume for the athletes and gave them a chance to really zoom in a bit and focus on primary events. We saw a lot of things we liked, some things to clean up, and I think we're coming out of this one feeling pretty good about where we sit."
Tyler Davis showed a tremendous surge during the final lap to move into fourth in the 1,500-meter steeplechase, his first time racing over that distance. Trevor Nefe claimed fifth place in the 400-meter hurdles, while Dieuvens Lebreton took seventh in the men's high jump event.
In the shot put, Beyonka Lee continued her string of success with a sixth-place finish.
"The thing that really stood out to me in this meet is the way it was stratified results-wise in terms of athlete age," Rexroat said. "This was another cold, windy, rough day for competition, and in large part, it was the seniors, the unattached recent graduates still competing, and a handful of juniors who really showed their mettle and experience, taking up the bulk of the spots in event finals. To have a team that's comprised of ninety-percent freshmen finding ways to get into the finals and putting themselves on the same level as seasoned, experienced collegiate athletes from strong programs—including Division I institutions—that's really a great building block for us. I know the team members aren't satisfied. They want more wins, more top-three slots, more top-eight placing positions, and we'll keep moving forward toward that. But I'm proud of where we're at in the process, and continued to be excited about the growth we're seeing from every member of this team."
Bluefield State returns to action Friday and Saturday in Rock Hill, South Carolina as the teams compete in the Adidas Invitational hosted Winthrop University.
