Trio of school records fall for HPU women’s track at Liberty Qualifier

• Sophomore Makenzi Holmes-DiGiovine moved into the top-25 in the NCAA East Region with a school-record mark of 51.08m (167-7) in the discus
• Senior Jill Marois entered the NCAA East Top-35 with a HPU record pole vault mark of 4.06m (13-3.75); She earned her third vault victory of the outdoor season
• Senior Jamie Schnuck topped her own school record in the hammer throw (54.02m, 177-3)

LYNCHBURG, Va. – A duo of terrific throwers teamed up with a precise pole vaulter to set three new school records for the High Point University women’s track & field team at the Liberty Qualifier Wednesday.

Sophomore Makenzi Holmes-DiGIovine and seniors Jamie Schnuck and Jill Marois all topped their own High Point school records in Lynchburg to head into next week’s Big South Championship with some excellent momentum.

Holmes-DiGIovine improved upon her school-record discus throw by more than six feet to lead the Panthers at Liberty. The meet is meant to give prospective NCAA competitors the chance to boost their qualifying marks and Holmes-DiGiovine did just that Wednesday.

After throwing 49.22m on her first throw to qualify for the discus final, the Arizona product posted a monster mark of 51.08m (167-7) on her sixth and final throw to claim second behind Virginia Tech star Allison Randall (facility record 57.54m). The throw by Holmes-DiGiovine moved her up from 36th in the NCAA East Region to 24th, with just two weeks to go until bids are announced. The top-48 qualify for NCAA Preliminary action in Jacksonville, Fla., May 26-28.

“Makenzi did a nice job today,” associate head coach Scott Hall said. “She took an exam this morning and then she jumped right in the car. She didn’t have a lot of time to dwell on extraneous thoughts and that helped her perform well today. She started out strong on her first throw to get herself into the final. The first and six throws were great on her part. She has the potential to throw even better than that moving forward.”

Speaking of NCAA qualifying marks, senior Jill Marois upped her HPU pole vault record for the third time in as many weeks. On Wednesday, Marois cleared the 4.06m bar (13-3.75) after top vaults of 4.02m and 4.03m over the past two weeks, respectively. The strong day at the office for Marois gave her the third pole vault victory of her 2016 outdoor season.

“We came to Liberty to tune up for conference and everyone got a feel for the different visual this facility offers with the construction going on around the stadium,” assistant coach Scott Houston said. “Jill came in with some tough crosswinds, but made the 3.81m bar on her third effort. After that, she was dialed in and cleared the next two heights convincingly in a single attempt to once again top her HPU record. Today certainly increases her chances of competing at the NCAA first round in a few weeks.”

The effort moved Marois from 39th to t-32nd in the NCAA East rankings heading into Big South action next week.

Also in the vault, senior Alyssa Palenchar finished second with a clearance of 3.71m (12-2) while junior Madison Depner and redshirt-junior Katie Benavente each topped 3.11m (10-2.5).

Shnuck’s previous school record hammer throw mark of 53.69m (176-2) came at the VertKlasse Meeting on April 2. After weeks with top throws of 53.26m, 52.92m and 49.40, Schuck once again conquered her record in Lynchburg with a mark of 54.02m (177-3). The top throw came on her first attempt, and Schnuck also finished strong with a 53.92m attempt on her sixth and final throw.

“Jamie was the zone warming up – her timing was excellent and she was putting things together with a good amount of snap,” Hall said. “Her warmups looked to be approaching 55 meters. She started thinking a little bit when she began her throws that counted, but she got through a lot of that. Throwing 54 meters was great, but there was more potential out there. If she can remain in that zone she showcased in warmups, she has the ability to really improve upon this mark next week.”

In addition to Schnuck, Holmes-DiGiovine also competed in the hammer and threw 46.01m (150-11) to place 10th.

On the track, junior Cozette Collin continued her outstanding outdoor campaign with a victory in the 1500-meter run Wednesday. She crossed the finish line in 4:38.88 to grab the win and flirt with her collegiate-best time in the process.

On the jumps circuit, senior Erica Herrmann continued her upward progression over the past few weeks with a season-best mark of 1.56m (5-1.25) in the high jump to finish t-2nd. Freshman Charlotte Morrow also posted a season-best outdoor mark of 1.51m (4-11.5) to place t-5th.

In the 100m hurdles prelims, sophomore Mikaela Campbell took nearly a second off her PR while crossing the finish line in 14.92 seconds. Fellow sophomore Ashlynn Schiro finished seventh in 15.17 seconds while Haley Cianfarini (15.56 seconds) and CeAnna Soper (16.20 seconds) were ninth and 11th, respectively.

Schiro ran a collegiate best time of 14.79 in the final to place fifth while Campbell was eighth in 15.17.

Freshman Jasmyn Gillespie placed 22nd in the 200m dash (26.85) and Soper finished 24th (27.17). Freshmen Emmy Geis (2:31.67) and Cory Wilson (2:37.50) placed 21st and 23rd in the 800m run, respectively.

Also on the track, freshman Arianna Coleman finished 13th in the 100m dash with a time of 12.66 seconds.

HPU returns to Lynchburg Tuesday to begin competition at the Big South Championship.