LYNCHBURG, Va. – The High Point University women’s track & field team posted 13 top-10 finishes at the Liberty Combined Events on Friday and Saturday in Lynchburg, Va. Freshman Zoe Geis led the Panthers with a win in the 5000m.
“All in all this was better this week,” head coach Mike Esposito said. “We focused a lot on competing and less on results. Zoe winning the 5000m was great and Kanajzae posted a great time in the 60m dash. We took a step forward now we need to keep building on that.”
Geis finished with a time of 18.30.70 in the 5000m to pick up her first collegiate win on Friday. Fellow freshman Kylie Hennessey finished fourth in the race with a time of 18:53.17.
Redshirt-senior Jamie Schnuck posted a second-place finish in the weight throw on Friday with a toss of 16.95m (55-7.5). Sophomore Makenzi Holmes-DiGiovine and freshman Allison Torrance also finished in the top 10 in seventh and eighth respectively. Holmes-Digiovine’s top throw was 14.15m (46-5.25) and Torrance’s best throw was 14.04m (46-0.75).
On Saturday, sophomore Keaton Case finished seventh in the 800m with a time of 2:18.30 and freshman Kanajzae Brown tied for eighth in the 60m dash with a career-best time of 7.76. Brown also recorded a time of 7.76 in the preliminaries to qualify in fifth place.
The Panthers wrapped up the weekend with a fifth-place finish in the 4x400m relay. The team of Case, juniors Ashlynn Schiro and CeAnna Soper and sophomore Emmy Geis recorded a time of 4:04.81.
In the field events on Saturday, freshman Ariel Wilbekin finished in sixth in the triple jump with a distance of 11.12m (36-5.75) and freshman Heather Keck tied for sixth in the pole vault, clearing a height of 3.30m (10-10). Sophomore Charlotte Morrow tied for seventh in the high jump, matching her indoor career high with a height of 1.55m (5-1) and senior Amanda Gregory finished ninth in the long jump with a jump of 5.32m (17-5.5). Holmes-Digiovine was back in action on Saturday, placing seventh in the shot put with a toss of 11.80m (38-8.75).
The Panthers are back in Lynchburg, Va., for the Darius Dixon Memorial. The two-day event will begin on Friday, Jan. 27.