Preparation for next week’s ACC Championships defined Saturday’s Gene Anderson Invitational.
The North Carolina track and field team competed with a small roster, approaching the meet as a way to work on specific goals as opposed to trying to win every event.
“It was serving as a (way for) either those athletes who are trying to state their case to make the ACC team or for those who just need a little tune up heading into ACC,” assistant head coach Josh Langley said.
The meet certainly allowed junior Jheranie Boyd to state his case. He was just added to the roster Friday but managed a second-place finish in the men’s 60-meter dash. A receiver on UNC’s football team, Boyd took last track season off but will still compete in the ACC Championships next weekend.
While winning wasn’t the team’s focus, UNC still came away with four first-place finishes.
Sophomore Sandi Morris used the meet to work on her technique and gain confidence for next weekend. In refining her technique, she set a school record for the indoor women’s pole vault, clearing 13-10 ½ inches to win the event.
“I had been jumping well, but I needed the mental confidence of clearing a good height,” she said. “Preparing for a track meet, a lot of it’s just mental, so this is the mental confidence I needed.”
Senior Parker Smith took second in the men’s pole vault and set a personal record by clearing 17-7 ¾ inches.
“Last week was my first week back coming off an injury and it didn’t go as well as I would have liked,” Smith said. “So going into ACC’s next week, it felt really good to come out and jump well today.”
