ELON, N.C. – Both Converse University track & field teams began their outdoor season with a strong showing at the Phoenix Invitational hosted by Elon University. The men's team won five events and had 10 podium finishes. The women's team had a pair of podium finishes.

Men's Notes:

• Converse had a strong showing in the 100 meter dash, taking three of the top four spots in the event. Sophomore Dorian Bomar won the event with a time of 10.74 seconds, junior Devron Davis finished third with a time of 10.91, and senior Gavin McFadden placed fourth with a time of 10.92. Bomar's time puts him third in the southeast region this season and second in Conference Carolinas. Davis ranks seventh in the conference while McFadden currently sits at eighth.
• The Valkyries' tandem of sophomore Nick Tibolla and freshman Dre'Kevan Thomas took the top two spots in the 110 meter hurdles. Tibolla won the event with a time of 14.81 and Thomas followed with a 15.07. Tibolla ranks first in the southeast region and Thomas ranks third in the region.
• Converse also had a strong showing in the 200 meters, taking all three of the podium spots. McFadden won with a time of 21.31, Davis followed with a time of 21.49 and Bomar rounded out the group with a time of 21.54. These are also their rankings in both Conference Carolinas and the southeast region this season.
• Sophomore Alain Flores won the 1,500 meters with a time of 3:59.23, the only Conference Carolinas athlete with a sub-three-minute time. He ranks third in the southeast region.
  • Senior Luis Rios Brena finished sixth with a time of 4:06.16.
• In the field events, sophomore Omarion Belton won the long jump with a mark of 6.85 meters. That mark puts him second in both the southeast region and Conference Carolinas.

Women's Notes:

• Senior Eseose Okoduwa finished second in the 100 meter dash at the meet. She ranks fifth in Conference Carolinas in the event and sixth in the southeast region.
• Freshman Talaijah Bartley finished fifth in the 100 meter hurdles while sophomore Kamille Cunningham finished right behind her in sixth. Bartley posted a time of 16.03 while Cunningham ran a 16.23. They also rank fifth and sixth respectively in Conference Carolinas this season.
• Junior Ruth Spijker had the best finish in the 1,500 meters of any Division II athlete at the meet with a time of 4:47.63. This ranks her first in Conference Carolinas by nearly three seconds and second in the southeast region.
• Junior Bella Martin finished fourth in the hammer throw with a mark of 49.10 meters.
• Martin also finished with a 35.69-meter mark in the discus, ranking her seventh in both Conference Carolinas and the southeast region. Freshman Anna Katherine Evatt ranks eighth in both the conference and region with a 35.65-meter mark.
• Freshman Alla Hutchinson finished fifth in the javelin throw with a mark of 34.43 meters, ranking her third in both Conference Carolinas and the southeast region.
• Fellow freshman Allison Irick posted a mark of 3.08 meters in the pole vault, also taking home fifth place at the meet. She ranks second in both Conference Carolinas and the southeast region.

 
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