MARIETTA, Ga. - The Life University Track & Field team returned home to compete in the Keith Wright Memorial Invitational. Fresh off competing for a conference championship less than a week ago, the Running Eagles had a good showing coming away with multiple personal bests, one single-A standard and two single-B standard marks.

On The Track

On the women's side, freshman Essence Sands got things started for the women as she advanced to finals after her qualifying time of 15.43 in the 100-meter hurdles event. Sands would go on to finish second overall after running 15.52 in the finals later in the day. In the 100-meter dash, junior Zaria Bonafede ran a time of 12.25 to qualify for finals, before running a final time of 12.35 for a fourth-place finish. In the 400-meter dash race, freshman Kamarra Trisch bested her previous record by .01 seconds after running 58.66 good enough for an eighth-place finish in the event. Senior Najah Gibson took home first-place in the 800-meter dash after running a personal best and single-B standard time of 2:13.40. Freshman Maelle Spiegel finished third after running a time of 2:23.04, while sophomore Carmen Crawford finished fourth overall after running a personal best time of 2:25.41. In the 400-meter hurdle race, sophomore Laisha Hernandez finished second overall after running a time of 1:06.45.

For the men, senior Jeremiah Giddens got things started after running a finals qualifying time of 11.06 in the 100-meter dash prelims, before running a personal best time of 10.95 in the finals for a seventh place finish. In the 400-meter dash, senior Gray McIntyre placed second overall after running a time of 48.32. Freshman Julien Jansen ran a personal best time of 1:58.50 finishing under two minutes for the first time in his collegiate career, in the 800-meter run. Jansen's time was good enough for a fifth place finish. In the 400-meter hurdle race, freshman Justin Ducote finished second overall after running a time of 56.59. Finally, in the men's 200 meter dash freshman Omar Bajo finished seventh overall after running a time of 22.23, while teammate and junior Khalil Carr finished eighth overall after running a personal best time of 22.25.

In The Field

Bonafede got things started for the women in the sand as she placed second overall in the women's long jump event with a mark of 5.46 meters. In the shot put event, Life U had all three of its athletes place in the top seven headlined by junior Katelyn Mendoza with a second place finish after her throw of 12.31 meters. Not too far behind her was teammate and sophomore Ava Falite who finished fourth overall after throwing a personal best mark of 12.23 meters, rounding out the top seven was Sands who finished seventh after her mark of 9.08 meters. In the discus throwing event, The Running Eagles had all their athletes finish in the top six. Mendoza led the charge again with another second place finish after her personal best throw of 41.74 meters. Falite again finished fourth overall after her personal best throw of 31.55 meters, while sophomore Annalise Leitner placed sixth overall after her mark of 30 meters flat. Finally in the hammer throw event, Leitner would once again throw a personal best this time it was a mark of 46.46 which was good enough for a seventh place finish, while Falite would place ninth overall after her mark of 35.17.

On the men's side, junior Keondre Glover walked away victorious after his mark of 2.05 meters in the high jump event. Junior Braden Deal finished second in the event after his mark of 1.90 meters. In the discus throwing event, The Running Eagles had all their athletes finish in the top eight, headlined by junior Winston Sanders who threw a personal best and a single-A standard mark of 53.15 meters earning himself a second-place finish. Juniors Christian Dixon and Akinwale Dare placed fourth and fifth after their throws of 47.45 meters and 46.50 meters respectively, while sophomore Michael Holbrook placed eighth after his mark of 32.76 meters.
In the sand, Carr would be crowned victorious after this mark of 6.94 meters in the long jump event. Glover would finish second overall in the event after his personal best mark of 6.64 meters, while senior Kenadie Stinson would place fifth overall after his personal best of 6.18 meters. In the shot put event, Dixon once again placed fourth overall after his mark of 14.59 meters, while Holbrook would place sixth after his throw of 12.41 meters. Freshman Greyson Myers placed second overall in the pole vault event after his personal best mark of 4.57 meters. In the final throwing event, Life U had three athletes place in the top eight, once again headlined by Sanders as he placed second overall after throwing a single-B standard mark of 56.46 meters. Finishing right behind Sanders in third place was sophomore Darius Barge, who threw a personal best mark of 54.63 meters and placing eighth for the Running Eagles was Holbrook with his mark of 42.31 meters.

Up Next: The Running Eagles will be back on the road as athletes will travel to either the Music City Challenge in Nashville, Tn or the Torrin Lawrence Invite in Athens, Ga.