Johnson and Lavender hit NCAA marks, win the high jump

COLUMBIA, S.C. – Junior Kamden Johnson and sophomore Demonte Lavender both produced NCAA standards on Feb. 4 in the high jump and secured wins while competing in separate competitions on the final day at the South Carolina Invitational.

In the Invite high jump, Johnson collected the victory after clearing six feet, eight inches to hit the NCAA provisional mark. He sits in a tie for the top position in the high jump in the Southeast Region. Johnson finished the weekend with two NCAA provisional marks in the long and high jump.

Lavender set a personal best in the high jump with the identical mark of six feet, eight inches to win the event while competing in the Open high jump. He becomes just the fourth athlete in the region to hit the NCAA mark, while UMO holds the top two clearances in the league this year. Lavender also improves to fourth all-time at UMO in the high jump.

In the 200 meters, senior Justen Brunette delivered a new season-best time of 21.64 seconds to place 10th in a loaded field. Following the weekend, he remains in the top spot in the Conference Carolinas in the 200 meters and 60-meter dash. Freshman Jason Hart established a personal record after crossing the line in 21.73 seconds to move into second on the league leaderboard. He also jumped to third in program history in the event with his time on Saturday.

Sophomore Aman Tsegay hit the conference standard in the 5000 meters with a time of 15:37.62, which ranks among the top 10 marks in the league.

— From University of Mount Olive Athletics