The North Carolina track and field team competed in the three different tournaments, the Tiger Paw Invitational, the David Hemery Valentine Invitational and the Vanderbilt Music City Challenge on Friday and Saturday. Eleven Tar Heels posted personal bests.
What happened?
On Friday at the Tiger Paw Invitational in Clemson, S.C., sophomore Emerson Porter finished third in the women’s pole vault. Junior McKinley McNeill placed fourth in the women’s 400-meter dash with a time of 54.69 seconds. Saturday, sophomore Jill Shippee placed second in the women’s weight throw (19.82 meters).
In the Valentine Invitational hosted by Boston University, junior Mady Clahane finished fourth in her section with a personal best of 9:26.71 in the women’s 3000-meter dash. Graduate student Nick Golebiowski finished 10th in the men’s 5000-meter dash. Junior Matt Thornton finished 11th in the men’s 5000-meter dash, and Jeremy Brown finished 13th.
In the Vanderbilt Music City Challenge, sophomore Dontavian Smith placed second in the men’s 200-meter dash with a time of 21.65 seconds. On Saturday, first-year Lauryn Hall finished the prelims of the women’s 60-meter dash with a time 7.63 seconds, a new season best. In the men’s 4x400 relay, UNC placed third with a time of 3:09.68.
Who stood out?
At the Tiger Paw Invitational, Porter qualified for the ACC Indoor Championship in the women’s pole vault with a 3.98-meter vault. Simmons also qualified for the ACC Championship in the women’s triple jump, and her vault of 12.45 meters set a new personal record.
Shippee, who placed third in the UNC record books for women’s 20-pound weight throw, broke her previous record with a 19.82-meter toss on Saturday.
In the Valentine Invitational, Clahane and Edmundson qualified for the ACC Championship on Friday. Golebiowski qualified on Saturday. In total, 11 athletes finished with new personal bests in their respective events, and eight of them came from the Valentine Invitational.
