University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
Moore wins Long Jump; Four Podium Finishes Highlight Asheville’s First Day at Big South Championships
02.23.2024 | Track and Field
BLACKSBURG, Va. – Four podium finishes highlighted the UNC Asheville track and field team's first day at the 2024 Big South Conference Indoor Championships on Friday.
Brianna Moore took home gold for Asheville and was the first Bulldog to take the podium as she won the women's long jump with a distance and personal record of 5.86 meters. Moore is now No. 2 in program records in the long jump.
Mallory Haney finished in a 3-way tie for second place in the women's high jump with a height of 1.58 meters. Haney also started the day in the Pentathlon, finishing fourth with 3,249 points, the second-best finish in program history. She also competed in the long jump, where she jumped 5.02m (14th). In all, Haney represented Asheville in seven different events.
Also earning a second-place finish in their respective event was Adam Hessler in the men's 5000-meter run. Hessler finished in 14:45.32.
Asheville's final podium finish of the day came from the men's DMR team of Jackson Core (1200m), Braelin June (400m), Brock Newsome (800m), and Jan Málek (1600m). The team combined to finish in 10:18.16.
Other top performers on the day included Zac Weas, who qualified in the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 8.24. Weas is the current defending conference champion in the event, with his personal best time of 7.95.
In the women's shot put, Raina Jackson secured five points for Asheville with a fourth-place finish and a season-best 13.82m. Jaelyn Arnold finished 12th at 11.31m, a personal record, and Madison Hannah finished 16th at 10.04m.
In the men's 400m prelims, senior Anthony Mason is through to the finals with a season's best of 49.18. Mason was closely followed by Jalen Anderson, who ran 49.60 to also qualify for the final. They were joined by Christopher Owens, who snatched a season's best of 50.35 to take ninth. Isaac Wright clinched 10th with a personal best of 50.50. On the women's side, Francesca Cergol made her collegiate debut in the 400 and ran 57.92 to finish in ninth. Elyse Myles took 13th place with a season's best of 1:01.18.
In the 60m prelim, two Bulldogs recorded personal bests, with DaMarr Harvey finishing ninth in 6.91. Harvey was followed by freshman Braelin June, who ran 7.26 to take 15th place.
Four Bulldogs secured their spots in the 800m finals on Saturday. Alison Graf finished fourth in her heat (2:15.58). In an Asheville-dominated heat, three male Bulldogs qualified for the final. Leading the pack was Alex Haines, who finished second in 1:54.95. Jaheem O'Hara secured fourth place and a personal best with his time of 1:55.45. O'Hara was closely followed by Brock Newsome, who ran 1:55.73 to take sixth.
DaMarr Harvey and Jalen Anderson qualified for the men's 200m finals, with Harvey finishing fourth in a season's best of 21.51. Anderson finished just behind in fifth with 21.62.
On the women's side of the 200m, Cergol clinched 13th place (25.95), Elyse Myles finished in 14th place (25.97, SB), and Chaniya Owens took 17th place (26.36, PR).
Joining Hessler in the 5000m was Daniel Hopkins, who ran 15:32.64 (10th), Jonas Roach (15:53.05, 12th), and Andrew Okon (16:05.58, 13th). In the women's 5000m, sophomore Sophie Lundin ran a personal best time of 18:02.92 (ninth). She was joined by fellow sophomore Alyx Beausoleil, who ran 19:51.49 (12th).
The women's DMR team took fourth place with a season's best performance of 12:29.92. The women's squad included Emily Leo (1200m), Zoe Bos (400m), Amanda Orban (800m) and Ella Moore (1600m).
In her third event on the day, Cergol jumped a personal best of 5.37 meters (ninth) in the long jump. In the men's long jump, Gabe Matthews took ninth place with 6.47 meters, and Mason Bradley finished in 15th place with 5.81 meters. Two freshmen competed in the men's Pole vault, with Dylan Metcalf clearing 3.88 meters (seventh, PR) and Eli Oeschger clearing 3.73 meters (eighth, PR).
Metcalf and Oeschger joined Adam Graham in the first part of the men's heptathlon. The trio will finish the heptathlon on Saturday, with the 60m hurdles, pole vault, and 1000m.
After day one, the Asheville women are ranked fourth with 32.33 points and the men currently sit in fifth with 17 points. The Bulldogs will be back in action tomorrow, Feb. 24, for day two of the Big South Championships. Live results will be available HERE.
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