Bucs cap regular season strongly at Tennessee Challenge

ETSU registers eight collegiate bests among its top-10 finishers

In its final meet before the Atlantic Sun Outdoor Championships in two weeks, the ETSU track & field program turned in solid performances — including event wins by a trio of student-athletes and multiple collegiate highs and school records — on Saturday at the Tennessee Challenge at Tom Black Track at LaPorte Stadium.

Using Saturday at the University of Tennessee as a preparatory tool for the upcoming conference meet, the Buccaneers got in some productive work. In total, ETSU recorded 10 top-five finishes including victories in three different events.

Freshman Simeon Roberts (Greeneville, Tenn.) took the top spot in the men’s 3000 meter run with a time of 8:27.94, while fellow frosh Mike Williams (Mt. Laurel, N.J.) finished first in the men’s 400 meter hurdles with a collegiate-best 52.65 time. Senior Tyler Stepp (Dandridge, Tenn.) distanced himself from the competition in the men’s long jump with a first-place leap of 7.42 meters; nearly a full .2 meters ahead of second place which recorded a 7.24 mark. In addition, Roberts placed fourth in the 800 meter run with a collegiate-best time of 1:52.60, while Williams placed in the top three again in the 110 meter hurdles with another collegiate-high 14.96 third-place time.

On the women’s side, the Blue & Gold found successes in both distance and sprints events. Sophomore Katie Hirko (Oley, Pa.) raced to a third-place finish in the 1500 meter run with a collegiate-high time of 4:33.49, before following with an eighth-place standing in the 800 meter run with another collegiate-best time of 2:14.64. On the track in hurdle events, the Bucs registered a pair of top-three performances. In the 100 meter hurdles, Dede Edgecombe (Spartanburg, S.C.) placed third with an ETSU record-breaking 13.48 time, while in the 400 meter hurdles, Nicole Alexander (Rock Hill, S.C.), too, rounded out the top three with a time of 1:03.24. Edgecombe has broken her own ETSU record in the event multiple times over the past year.

Additionally, Ashley Kessler (Knoxville, Tenn.) broke her own school record in the pole vault with a mark of 3.95 meters, while Lexie Burley (Johnson City, Tenn.) posted a collegiate-high mark of 12.49 meters in the triple jump.

The Bucs will have a week off from competition next week before heading to Jacksonville, Fla. to compete in the 2014 Atlantic Sun Outdoor Championships, May 17 – 18.