One of the most unmentioned programs on both the men’s and women’s side at FIU is track & field. These programs, currently headed by Interim Head Coach Ryan Heberling, have competed several times so far this season. Heberling is filling in after former Head Coach Eric Campbell resigned earlier this month.
The most recent was the 2014 Tar Heel Opener at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill on Jan. 25.
Women have strong winter showing
On the women’s side, both throwing and running events had strong performances in Chapel Hill. These included multiple top-5 finishes.
The top finishes for the Panthers came in the second place category as no Panther had a first place finish. Sophomore Chelsea Gobourne has a 17.16 meter toss in the weight throw. Freshman Caroline Reiser went on to add a time of 10:26.30 in the 3,000 meter run as well.
Other notable top-5 finishes include sophomore Miriam Pierre who had a weight throw of 16.78 meters which got her third. Pierre also placed fourth in the shot put with a 12.58 meter throw. Junior Tikiera Relaford placed fourth in high jump with a 1.62 meter jump. The A team of the 4 by 400 meter relay, which has sophomore Oriel Anu, sophomore Maya Balfour, sophomore Jaylaan Slaughter, and junior Desmika White, brought in fourth place as they brought in a 4:06.72 time. Anu placed third alone in the 60 meter hurdles with a time of 8.79 seconds and Slaughter also placed third in the 400 meter dash with a 58.73 seconds time. Freshman Cam’ree Jackson was just off the top with a fourth place finish in the 60 meter dash at a time of 7.74 seconds.
Men strong but come up short
There were only a couple top-five finishers on the men’s side. Those came with senior Khristian Campbell placing third in the 60 meter dash with a time of 6.83 seconds. Sophomore Marcus Ghent had a 6.78 meter long jump to place third. Ghent also finished fifth in the triple jumps with a jump of 13.75 meters. Senior Desmond Mcgill placed fourth in the 60 meter hurdles.
Other than those two, there were some top-10 finishes that came along with some multi-event participants. Ghent was also involved in the sixth place finish of the 4 by 400 meter relay. Along with sophomore Brandon Ballard, Mcgill, and freshman Christopher Prophete, the A team of the 4 by 400 ran a 3:25:84. This was 10.40 seconds faster than the B team.
Sophomore Eric Knott came in eighth place in the long jump with a distance of 6.47 meters. Freshman Pablo Espita triple jumped 13.09 meters for a seventh place finish. Espita no heighted in the pole vault. Sophomore Christopher Sullivan posted a high jump of 1.95 meters at the event, was involved for the B team of the 4 by 400 which placed thirteenth, and placed seventeenth with a throw of 11.24 meters.
“With everything that has happened this year, we have moved on and done very well,” Sullivan said. “The coaches and athletes have stepped up and are looking forward to finish the indoor season strong.”
Ballard also placed seventh in the 800 meter run with a time of 1:56.86. Campbell also went seventh in the 200 meter dash final with a time of 22.42 seconds posted.
The next time the Panthers will take the track will be on Feb. 7 when they travel to New York for the Armory Collegiate Invitational.
-rhys.williams@fiusm.com
Be the first to comment on "The run around for track & field"