Clemson, S.C. - The Life University Track and Field team opened its indoor season at the Clemson Invitational on Saturday. The Running Eagles squad began its indoor season with several standout performances, highlighted by multiple top-10 finishes in both track and field events, while also securing a single-A standard and a single-B standard. 

Kyja Williams led the women's team on the track side with an impressive 3rd place performance in the 800 meters, running a time of 2:22.30 placing her 15th overall in NAIA. Williams also earned a top 5 finish in the 1000 meters after running a personal best of 3:07.37. Sky Jones and Carmen Crawford also finished in the top-10 of the 1000-meter contest running 3:07.88 and 3:22.05 to finish 7th and 8th respectively. Also on the track, Najah Gibson and Laisha Hernandez secured top-10 finishes in the women's 600-meter dash with times of 1:40.06 and 1:40.71 respectively. Hernandez set her personal best with her finishing time. 

In the field events, Annalise Leitner had the best finish of the day, placing 7th in the weight throw with a mark of 14.80 meters, while teammates Katelyn Mendoza and Ava Falite placed 9th and 10th with marks of 14.11 meters and 11.06 meters. For Mendoza, that was a personal best in the event. Earlier in the day, Mendoza led the Running Eagles by placing 9th in the shot put with a mark of 11.39 meters, while Falite placed one spot below with a mark of 10.83 meters. 

For the men's team, Darius Barge delivered a standout performance in the shot put, finishing 2nd and securing a single-A standard with a throw of 17.02 meters. Winston Sanders also performed well in the weight throw, placing 3rd  with a personal best of 17.90 meters, which earned him a single-B standard. Barge went on to set a personal best in weight as well with a mark of 17.20 meters to give him the 4th place finish. Teammates Christian Dixon and Michael Holbrook finish 6th (15.76 meters) and 9th (12.70 meters) in weight to give Life four top-10 finishes in the event. Dixon and Holbrook also finished 5th (14.46 meters) and 9th (11.65 meters) respectively in the shot put, while Holbrook set a personal best.  

In the 600, Sean Hewitt secured 5th place with a time of 1:20.63, while teammates Justin Ducote and Alejandro Ramos Veglio placed 6th (1:21.96) and 8th (1:26.82) respectively. In the 400, Arthur Drugeon placed 7th overall with a time of 49.39, while Ducote placed 10th with a time of 51.08. 

In the 800 meters, Abedelemejid Kerebo ran a solid race, finishing 2nd with a time of 1:54.18. Earlier in the day, Kerebo ran a personal best in the 1000 meters and finished 4th with a time of 2:29.68 with teammate Drugeon running a time of 2:36.87 to finish 6th overall. 

Junior Braden Deal rounds out the list of all the top-10 finishes for the Running Eagles as he placed 8th in the high jump with a mark of 1.96. 
 
Up next, the Running Eagles will travel to Nashville, Tenn. to compete in the Vanderbilt Indoor competition on Jan. 16th and 17th.