Davis and Lawson Represent Keydets During Friday's Penn Relays

Men's Track and Field VMIKeydets.com

Keydets Post Series of IC4A Qualifying Marks at Akron

AKRON, OHIO – VMI track and field posted five IC4A qualifying marks during its events on the final day of the Akron Invitational, held Saturday at Akron University in Ohio.

A trio of the marks was recorded by athletes who had already made the IC4A's, but those three were all improvements on their previous marks. Chad Lawson in the weight throw, James Alexander in the 200-meters and Felix Kitur in the 800-meters all improved their positions for the meet held in early March. Meanwhile, Alexander posted a qualifying time in the 400-meters and Cody Davis qualified for the IC4A's in the shot put.

“I am very pleased with our performances today,” said VMI head coach Darrin Webb. “With three updates and a pair of additions to our IC4A qualifiers, as well as the improvements we made on the conference ranking list, this was an outstanding meet. We asked many athletes to compete multiple times with minimum recovery, and they did a great job.”

Lawson was the top finisher in the blue division of the weight throw, as he recorded a personal best effort in his best event. The junior team captain delivered an 18.03 M heave (59'2”), and was trailed by Davis, who nearly followed up his shot put effort with an IC4A qualification in the weight. He placed fourth in the blue division, tossing the implement 16.75 M (54'11 ½”) and missing qualifying by .05 meters. Davis did deliver that qualification in the shot, as he was the runner-up finisher in the blue division of that event. He hurled the shot a personal best 15.65 M (51'4 ¼”) to earn his first career trip to the indoor IC4A meet.

Kitur, running in just his second race of the year, finished second in the championship section of the 800-meters. His time of 1:51.08 was a seasonal best, and the only competitor to best him, Kent State's Destin Heasley, is currently ranked in the top-15 800-meter runners in Division I.

Alexander improved upon his 200-meter time, thanks to a seventh-place finish in that race. He recorded a clocking of 21.81, some two-tenths of a second better than his previous seasonal best. He also qualified for the IC4A meet in the 400-meters, with a lifetime indoor best of 48.77 seconds. The Keydets got a pair of seasonal bests from other runners in that event, as Jonathan Jackson (50.14) and Kyle Fuller (50.52) both had strong runs.

Chandale Williams also impressed Saturday, finishing second among 33 runners in the blue section of the 400-meters. Her time of 57.64 was a seasonal best, and the fifth-fastest time in the Big South this year. The senior followed up that effort well, posting a second seasonal best of 25.99.

Dean Gonsalves continued the strong start to his VMI career, as he moved into the top-eight on the Big South performance list in both the mile and the 800-meters. Gonsalves ran a 1:56.86 in the 800 and a 4:20.38 in the mile, both of which rank sixth in the conference this year. Chris Wunsch also took part in the mile, running a 4:28.13 to win his heat.

In the final running event, the Keydets recorded a 3:20.24 time in the 4X400-meter relay to notch a win in their heat and finish fifth overall. Kitur, Alexander, Jackson and Fuller were the four runners for that squad.

VMI also took part in field events during the day, including the women's pole vault. That event saw Kate Collins nearly match her seasonal best, as she recorded a 3.40 M (11'1 ¾”) clearance, falling just short of her 3.45 M effort at January's Great Dane Classic. The jumping contingent was headlined by Ademola Titcombe, who was second in the championship section of the triple jump. The sophomore's 13.89 M (45'7”) helped him earn the runner-up finish. In addition, Terrance Green and Nate Gant were second and third, respectively, in the blue division of the long jump.

“We may run a few athletes next weekend at Virginia Tech, if we believe they need another competition,” offered Coach Webb. “However, with what we did yesterday at Liberty and today at Akron, we are ready to go for the conference championship and we're very much looking forward to the challenge ahead.”
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Players Mentioned

James Alexander

James Alexander

Sprints
Junior
Cody Davis

Cody Davis

Throws
Junior
Kyle Fuller

Kyle Fuller

Mid-Distance
Sophomore
Nate Gant

Nate Gant

Jumps/Sprints
Freshman
Dean Gonsalves

Dean Gonsalves

Mid-Distance
Junior
Terrance Green

Terrance Green

Jumps/Sprints
Junior
Felix Kitur

Felix Kitur

Mid-Distance
Junior
Chad Lawson

Chad Lawson

Throws
Junior
Ademola Titcombe

Ademola Titcombe

Jumps/Sprints
Sophomore
Chris Wunsch

Chris Wunsch

Distance
Freshman

Players Mentioned

James Alexander

James Alexander

Junior
Sprints
Cody Davis

Cody Davis

Junior
Throws
Kyle Fuller

Kyle Fuller

Sophomore
Mid-Distance
Nate Gant

Nate Gant

Freshman
Jumps/Sprints
Dean Gonsalves

Dean Gonsalves

Junior
Mid-Distance
Terrance Green

Terrance Green

Junior
Jumps/Sprints
Felix Kitur

Felix Kitur

Junior
Mid-Distance
Chad Lawson

Chad Lawson

Junior
Throws
Ademola Titcombe

Ademola Titcombe

Sophomore
Jumps/Sprints
Chris Wunsch

Chris Wunsch

Freshman
Distance