Women's Track & Field 2/2/2025 9:04:00 PM

Purple and Gold Shines in Bast-Cregger Invitational

SALEM, Va. – The Converse University track and field teams shined in their third meet of the 2024-25 indoor season as they traveled up I-85 to compete in the Bast-Cregger Invitational hosted by Roanoke College.

Men's Notes:

Graduate student Zephaniah Cox Jr.. put on a show as he continued his stellar graduate campaign, winning the 60 meter open prelims with a time of 6.86. He placed second in the open semifinals with a time of 6.83 and won the event final with a time of 6.79.
The Valkyries had two others finish inside the top 10 in the preliminary round, junior Devron Davis and senior Gavin McFadden. Davis was also one of eight athletes to qualify for the event final.
Nick Tibolla had an impressive showing in the 60 meter hurdles, posting a time of 8.44, 0.3 seconds faster than all other runs in the first round. He improved even more in the event final, posting a time of 8.23 and winning the event by nearly half a second over second place.
- His time of 8.23 is the fourth-fastest time by a Conference Carolinas student-athlete this season.
After qualifying in seventh in the 60 meter hurdles prelims, senior Donald Medley missed taking a one-two finish in the event with Tibolla by 0.09 seconds, still earning a top-three finish in the event.
The Valkyries had a pair of top-ten finishes in the 200 meter and 400 meter as Davis placed fifth in the 200 meter, second among Conference Carolinas student-athletes at the event, and Glenn placed ninth in the 400 meter, third among Conference Carolinas athletes.
Members of the Converse distance team also performed well in their events, headlined by freshman Jacob Wren who placed second in the 500 meter and sophomore Alain Flores who placed second in the 800 meter
Senior Luis Rios Brena placed third in the mile with a time of 4:32.66, second amongst Conference Carolinas student-athletes. Freshman Alex Porter finished in the same spot in the 3000 meter with a time of 8:53.55, the sixth-best time for a Conference Carolinas student-athlete this season.
- Rios Brena recorded a time of 8:59.10 in the 3000 meter, the ninth-best time for a Conference Carolinas student-athlete this season.
Of the 36 athletes to compete in the long jump, all three Valkyries that competed in the event took a top-five finish. Reigning Conference Carolinas field athlete of the week Omarion Belton took second place in the event with a distance of 6.86 meters. Junior Kaden Gamble followed with a distance of 6.77 meters and freshman Camden Ranieri rounded out the Valkyries top-five finishes with a distance of 6.71 meters.
- Belton also placed fifth in the triple jump with a distance of 13.75 meters.
The Valkyries' distance medley team placed first out of eight teams with a time of 10:37.83, almost four seconds faster than the team from Mary Washington in second place.

Women's Notes:

Senior Eseose Okoduwa continued her impressive final campaign with a second-place finish in both the prelims and semifinals of the 60 meter dash. She posted her best time of the weekend in the event final, winning with a time of 7.62.
- Junior Madison Griffin recorded a time of 7.92, the 13th-fastest time for a Conference Carolinas student-athlete this season.
The Valkyries had two athletes finish in the top 10 of the indoor pentathlon 60 meter hurdles, with freshman Kennedy Wright placing second with a time of 8.90 and sophomore Kamille Cunningham placing ninth with a time of 9.70.
Sophomore Jermyra Bethel took two top-10 finishes with a second place finish in the 400 meter with a time of 59.22 and sixth in the 200 meter with a time of 26.26.
- Freshman Triniti Muldrow-Green helped the Valkyries take two-of-three podium finishes in the 400 meter, finishing third with a time of 1:00.39. That places her fifth amongst Conference Carolinas student-athletes this season.
Junior Latavia Bracey-Ransom and Wright finished inside the top five in the indoor pentathlon 800 meter. They finished with times of 2:41.13 and 2:45.74 respectively.
Senior Janyia Pinckney placed second in the high jump with a height of 1.54 meters, the highest of all Conference Carolinas athletes.
Senior Ashley Sosa and junior Lauren Beatty finished sixth and seventh respectively in the 5000 meter. Sosa posted a time of 18:49.70 and Beatty finished the event in 18:54.95.
In the indoor pentathlon high jump, Wright led the charge of three Valkyries placing inside the top 10 with the same 1.54 meter height as Pinckney.
Okoduwa placed sixth in the long jump and Wright placed ninth in the indoor pentathlon high jump.
Freshman pole vaulter Allison Irick posted her best mark of the season with a height of 3.00 meters, placing her third amongst Conference Carolinas athletes this season.
Junior Bella Martin had a pair of top-four finishes with a second-place finish in the weight throw and a fourth-place finish in the shot put. She recorded distances of 15.80 meters and 11.64 meters respectively.
Two senior Valkyries posted top-ten finishes in the triple jump: Mackenzie Whiteside finished third with a distance of 11.48 meters and Pinckney finished tenth with a distance of 10.35 meters.

On the blocks for the Valkyries:
Converse returns to the track on Friday, Feb. 7 and Saturday, Feb. 8 as they return to Winston-Salem, North Carolina for the second time this season to compete at JDL Fast Track.

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Players Mentioned

Omarion Belton: 6' 0"; Sophomore

Devron Davis: Junior

Alain Flores: 5' 8"; Sophomore

Kaden Gamble: Junior

Gavin McFadden: Senior

Donald Medley: Senior

Luis Rios Brena: Senior

Zephaniah Cox Jr.: Graduate Student

Camden Ranieri: 6' 0"; Freshman

Lauren Beatty: 5' 6"; Junior

Players Mentioned

Omarion Belton
: 6' 0"; Sophomore

Devron Davis
: Junior

Alain Flores
: 5' 8"; Sophomore

Kaden Gamble
: Junior

Gavin McFadden
: Senior

Donald Medley
: Senior

Luis Rios Brena
: Senior

Zephaniah Cox Jr.
: Graduate Student

Camden Ranieri
: 6' 0"; Freshman

Lauren Beatty
: 5' 6"; Junior