Keydets End Two-Day Competitions With High Marks
The VMI men's and women's indoor track and field teams came away with strong showings in meets held at Bucknell and Penn State Saturday that concluded the two-day competitions at the two sites. The Keydets set one new school record, giving them four over the two days, and had four first-place finishes on the day. Furthermore, 41 personal lifetime or seasonal best marks were recorded by VMI athletes over the two days.Following the conclusion of the two day events, it was learned that sophomore sprinter Paulvince Obuon (Kisumo, Kenya/Chianda), who ran a school record 6.70 in the 60-meter dash on Friday at the Penn State Open, is currently ranked seventh among Division I athletes in that event. Furthermore, Obuon is also ranked 12th in Division I in the 200-meter dash (21.16). Both times currently rank in the top 30 in the world as Obuon is 30th in the 60 meters and 21st in the 200 meters according to the International Association of Athletic Federations.
Meanwhile, senior Mildred Cooper (Gretna, Va./Gretna) set a new school record in the shot put with a first-place throw of 47' 11 ¼". Cooper also placed fifth in the 20-pound weight throw at 48' 3 ½". The women's team was also heard from freshman Ania Najda (Olsztyn, Poland/University of Warmia and Mazury) who took first place in the 800-meter dash at 2:20.29. The other two first-place finishes came from the men's team as junior Garrett Brickner (Fairfax, Va./Lake Braddock) cleared 6' 10 ¾" in the high jump and senior Austin Wakefield (Wake Forest, N.C./Wake Forest) recorded a throw of 51' 9 ¼" in the shot put.
The Keydets also had four second-place finishes on the day. Wakefield had one of them in the 35-pound weight throw at 52' 8 ¼" while senior J.B. Rosson (Keezletown, Va./Spotswood) placed second in the pole vault at 15' 3". Meanwhile, the men's 4x400 meter relay team of junior Bryan Yerger (Reading, Pa./Reading), senior Rory Paige (Rockville, Md./Magruder), senior Jonathan Johnson (Merritt Island, Fla./Merritt Island), and junior Tim Greer (Annandale. Va./Annandale) took second at 3:26.53.
The men's team was also represented by senior Ty Denby (Scottsville, Va./Fluvanna Co.) who placed third in the pole vault at 15' 3". Freshman Donnie Mikels (Rustburg, Va./Rustburg) placed fourth in the one-mile run at 4:25.05.
In other men's results, senior Adam Rouse (Danbury, Conn./Danbury) placed sixth in the 35-pound weight throw at 45' 5 ¾". Several other men recorded lifetime bests for VMI including junior Chris Gilliland (Naples, Fla./Lely) in the 60-meter dash with a time of 7.15 and sophomore Casey Grey (Monroe, Va./Amherst Co.) who finished the 3,000-meter run in 9:13.40. Junior Shawn Hogan (Salem, NH/Salem) had a lifetime best in the 3,000 meters at 9:15.64 while Paige recorded a lifetime best in the 500-meters with a mark of 1:09.66. Brickner also had a lifetime best in the 60-meter high hurdles at 8.77.
Both the men's and women's teams return to action next weekend when the Keydets host the VMI Winter Relays at Cormack Field House on the VMI Post. Action is set to run on both Friday and Saturday, February 4-5.