Faison breaks conference record

MOUNT OLIVE – The University of Mount Olive men’s track & field team established three NCAA provisional standards and five first-place finishes, while shattering a conference record at the Adidas Trojan Challenge hosted at Ray McDonald Sr. Sports Complex March 25.

Senior Joshua Faison eclipsed his previous conference and school record in the discus with a toss of 54.60 meters to take first place in the event. He improved his NCAA standard set earlier and continues to hold the top spot in the Southeast Region.

Senior Justen Burnette set a pair of NCAA provisional marks while competing in the 100 and 200 meters. He improved his national standard in the 100 meters after crossing the line in 10.46 seconds in the preliminaries. For the first time this season, Burnette achieved an NCAA standard in the 200m with a first-place finish in the event following a time of 20.98 seconds.

In the hammer throw, the Trojans featured three personal-best mark with sophomore Alex Smith-Fort’e winning the event with a toss of 54.06 meters, which ranks second all-time in school history in the event. Smith-Fort’e continues to hold the top distance in the hammer throw in the Southeast Region during the outdoor season. Additionally, sophomore Israel Long placed third with a mark of 52.14 meters, which sits third in UMO history. Senior Dorian Tolbert secured fourth in the field with a toss of 51.37 meters, which ranks fourth all-time with the program.

In the triple jump, sophomore Jaleal Hamlett captured medalist honors with a distance of 14.53 meters, while sophomore Demonte Lavender hit the league qualifying standard with a mark of 13.71 meters. Additionally, freshman Josh Manning improved his conference mark with a distance of 13.42 meters.

Senior Jordan Martin set a personal record in the 110-meter hurdles on Saturday after crossing the line in 15.19 seconds to take fifth-place in the finals and set the fourth-fastest mark in UMO history. Sophomore Nicholas Cloud established a personal-best in the shot put after placing fifth overall with a distance of 15.85 meters, which sits second all-time at UMO.

Junior Nathaniel Bierly established a league standard in the 3000 steeplechase after crossing the line with a time of 10 minutes, 24.29 seconds. Additionally, in the 100 meters, junior QuVontre Harper improved his league mark in the event with a time of 10.88 seconds in the preliminaries.

Sophomore Riley Willcox improved his conference qualifying mark in the 1500 meters on Saturday with a time of 4:03.00 to finish third overall. Junior Billy Crawford qualified for the league championship in the discus throw with a personal record of 41.69 meters, which is the ninth-best mark in program history. Senior Gavan Cuthbertson set a conference championship mark in the 400-meter hurdles after posting a time of 58.35 seconds to take fifth place.

— From University of Mount Olive Athletics