University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
Koike and Nichols Advance to Finals on First Day of ETSU Invitational
01.12.2018 | Track and Field
RESULTS
JOHNSON CITY, TENN. – Hunter Koike and Kayli Nichols each won their respective event as the UNC Asheville men's and women's track and field teams completed the first day of the ETSU Invitational on Friday.
Highlights
Nichols started the first day of the ETSU Invitational on a positive note as the senior won her respective heat in the 60m hurdles with a time of 9.13. She had the fifth-fastest time in the preliminary round as she was only 0.026 seconds away from matching third place. The finish gave her a spot in the finals event scheduled for Saturday. I'Cess Young finished third in her respective heat with a 10.29, which was good enough for a top 30 overall finish in the event.
In the men's 400m, the Bulldogs had two top 10 finishes as Koike placed seventh and Tyree McFalling finished ninth. Koike recorded a 50.33 time, which was enough to give him a spot in the finals on Saturday afternoon. The time was only 0.07 seconds from matching a career best for the senior. McFalling posted a 50.42, which was only 0.09 seconds away from a final qualifying time.
Of the five UNC Asheville women's runners in the 60m, they finished within several spots of one another as Jailah Grimes paced the squad with a 8.21 in the event. Jasmine Cox and Desire Brown finished right behind each other as they finished with a 8.25 and a 8.27, respectively.
On the men's side of the same event, McFalling paced Asheville as he recorded a 7.17, which was good enough for a top 50 finish in a 103-person field.
Heather Grober and Cox each recorded a top 40 finish as Cox finished 37th in the 200m with a 26.96 (26.952) while Grober clocked in at 26.96 (26.956) for 38th place. Brown finished 42nd as she posted a 26.99 in the same event.
The Bulldogs achieved a really strong performance in the men's 5000m as three individuals placed in the top 20. Dominic Collichio finished third with a 15:43.58, which was just under 13 seconds away from matching the overall winner. Zach Boone placed 12th with a 16:25.36, and David Hager rounded out the top 20 finishes (17th place) with a 16:33.30 time.
Previewing Tomorrow
Koike will look to take first in the finals of the 400m beginning at 3:03 p.m., and Nichols will compete in the 60mH finals starting at 3:50 p.m.
Megan Brewer, Kelley Coleman, Kamryn DeCarmo, Maddie Lowe and Phoebe Schneider will kick off Saturday's event as they will represent UNC Asheville in the women's 3k. In the following event, Matthew Harding and Thomas Little will race in the same event.
Jacob Villemagne and Ke'Shonna Gay will compete in the shot put as they are the Bulldog representation in the field events on Saturday.
