Pole Vaulters tie, set records as Pettine sets mark and Sullivan ties own record
RICHMOND, VA -- Virginia pole vaulters Kathryn Pettine and David Sullivan had record performances this weekend as Pettine set the Virginia outdoor mark and Sullivan tied his own outdoor record en route to a pair of wins at the Fred Hardy Invitational held at the University of Richmond. Pettine became the first Virginia athlete to hit the 11\' 11.75\" mark outdoors while Sullivan\'s 17\' 0.75\" tied his own record that he set last year. Five women and four men took home victories in their respective events, while seven women and seven men also finished in the top three of their events.The men\'s team swept the honors in the short sprints as Reuben Jones won the 100 and Kellen Blassingame, the school record holder in the 400m, won both the 200m and 400m events. Jones also finished third in the 200m. The women went 1-2-3 in the 400 as Erin Crawford won the event with a 56.40, just edging out teammate Ashley Gore, who ran 56.48. Tiffany Roberts took home the bronze with a 58.14. Crawford was a double gold winner as she also won the 400 hurdles, coming in at a season-best 59.04. Janine Holman finished third in the short hurdles, running a 14.79, while the men went 2-4 in the short hurdles with Devin Canaday finishing at 15.35 and Thomas Codevilla running a 15.95.
Billie Jo Grant had another medal-full weekend, winning the discus for the second consecutive weekend and taking home runner-up honors in the shot put with a 47\' 2.5\". Walker Anderson also took home a second, throwing the hammer 160\' 7\".
The horizontal jumpers also had a successful weekend, as Tomika Ferguson led a 1-2 finish in the triple jump with Kathryn Tershel and a 2-4-6-8 finish in the long jump. The men\'s long jumpers went 2-3-5 as Trumaine Pendleton just edged Isi Azeke, jumping 22\' 4.5\" to 21\' 10.25\". Pendleton finished fourth in the triple jump.
Jen Dolson and Kristin Milot finished 4th and 5th in the 1500 with Dolson edging Milot, 4:52.03 to 4:52.81. The women\'s relay teams both finished second, running 47.72 in the 400 and 3:50.78 in the 1600. The men\'s team also both finished second, as they ran 42.25 in the 400 and 3:19.43 in the 1600. Matt Gambale\'s 14:50.27 in the 5K was not only a PR but also earned him fourth place overall.