The North Carolina track and field team capped off the indoor regular season with several athletes shattering personal records, while the program honored a coaching legend.
The inaugural Dennis Craddock Invitational was held at the Eddie Smith Field House Saturday, while a select group of other athletes traveled to South Bend, Ind., for the Alex Wilson Invitational.
In Chapel Hill, the Craddock Invitational honored longtime UNC head coach Dennis Craddock, who coached 45 ACC championship teams and 38 individual NCAA national champions. Craddock — who led the Tar Heels for 27 years — coached current head coach Harlis Meaders and recruited many of the upperclassmen on the current UNC roster.
“A chance to acknowledge what (Coach Craddock) did for the University and for the student-athletes under his tutelage was exceptional,” Meaders said.
The meet featured 20 different programs and an exhibition race to close the day, with Air Force winning an exhibition 4×400 meter relay between the University’s three ROTC branches.
Sarah Howard took first place in the women’s shot put at the Craddock Invitational while setting a new personal record in the process. Her mark of 16.98 meters also lifted her overall rank from 12th to seventh in the nation and was the longest throw by any sophomore in the country this season .
“It was really exciting,” said Howard, who will compete in the ACC Indoor Championships next weekend at Clemson, “because I wasn’t even planning on throwing until later Friday afternoon.
“To be able to throw that (distance) the week before ACC Championships is big, too, because I have confidence going into the conference meet.”
While Howard and others excelled in Chapel Hill, freshman sprinter Ceo Ways posted a personal indoor record of his own, winning the men’s 200-meter dash at the Alex Wilson Invitational with a time of 21.16 seconds. The mark is the fourth-best in UNC history.
