University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
Kiprotich Sets New School Record to Highlight Day One of Darius Dixon Memorial Invitational
02.14.2025 | Track and Field
LYNCHBURG, Va. – Paul Kiprotich reset the school record in the 3,000m to go alongside eight other personal records to highlight day one of the Darius Dixon Memorial Invitational for the UNC Asheville track and field team.
School Record and Top Finishes
Adam Hessler finished nine-hundredths of a second behind Kiprotich as the duo finished sixth and seventh place in the 3,000m invite. Kiprotich dropped the school record to 18:18.61, and Hessler secured a personal best of 18:18.70. Kiprotich moved the needle on his previous school record of 18:19.63 set at the Virginia Tech Invitational on Jan.17.
Joseph Oliver earned the top placement of the day for the Bulldogs in the men's 400m open, finishing second with a personal best of 48.61. Oliver was joined by Adam Graham (33rd, 51.02) and Christopher Owens (46th, 52.28).
Over the hurdles, Shemarr Session ran just shy of the qualifying mark for the men's 60m hurdles final, placing ninth in the semi-final race with a personal best of 8.16.
Track
In the 800m women's invite section, Nikole Baikova represented Asheville with a 32nd-place finish and a personal best of 2:18.55. In the open, Ella Warren also locked a personal best of 2:23.00 to place 32nd, closely followed by Maddie Hamuka, who placed 50th with 2:30.17.
Jacoby Ennis led the men's open 800m, placing 28th in 1:58.76. Hot on his heels was Logan Russo, who placed 32nd in 1:59.23. They were joined by Lance Surles (38th, 2:02.61, PR) and Andrew Okon (41st, 2:09.26).
Halving the distance to 400m, Francesca Cergol placed 30th with her time of 59.68 in the women's section.
In the 3,000m open, Jonas Roach finished in 15th at 8:38.04 (PR), Quinn Jacquez finished just behind in 17th place at 8:38.48 (PR), and Nate Sullivan finished 34th at 8:59.43. In the women's section, Ella Moore placed 31st (10:28.27), and Sophie Lundin placed 44th (11:03.37).
Field
The men's long jump saw a personal best from Gabriel Matthews, who jumped into 22nd place with 6.29m. Aaron Higgins marked a distance of 6.45m to place 29th.
The Bulldogs will be back on the track tomorrow (Feb. 15) for the final day of competition at the Darius Dixon Memorial Invitational.
For complete meet results, click HERE.
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