LYNCHBURG, Va. – The VMI men's track and field team posted five runner-up finishes, including a Big South-second place effort by
Avery Martin in the 800-meters and a
Sean Helmke second place result in his steeplechase debut, as the squad wrapped up action at the Liberty Collegiate Invitational, contested Saturday in Lynchburg, Va. All five of the second-place finishes were recorded by freshmen.
Martin finished second in the 800, posting a 1:54.21 clocking to record his top collegiate time in the event. With the majority of the weekend's results still officially pending, the effort moved Martin into second place in the 800, vaulting him up the performance list from his previous position of 19th.
Helmke, meanwhile, clocked in at 9:39.66 to finish second in the 3,000-meter steeplechase in his first collegiate effort in that event. The time ranks sixth in the Big South.
Aron Long, fresh off IC4A qualifiers in the 100 and 200-meters last weekend in Florida, also earned a runner-up result. Long finished second in the 200, timing in at 22.12 seconds.
Avion Jones came home second in the high jump, clearing 1.99 meters (6'6 ¼”) in that event as he was bested on his rival's (Kyle Wheeler of Liberty) final attempt at 2.04 meters.
Daniel DeNijs wrapped up the second place finishes for the Keydets Saturday, doing so in the 5,000-meters with a time of 16:07.03.
After finishing sixth in the javelin Friday,
Quincy Murphy placed third in the 110-meter hurdles Saturday, crossing the stripe in 15.16.
Andrey Dmitriev recorded a fourth-place finish, doing so in the 800 with a time of 1:56.06, and was trailed by
Gabe Fisher's eighth-place result (1:59.34).
The Keydets recorded a second top eight finish in the high jump, as
Korey Bullard joined Jones with a 1.89 meter (6'2 ¼”) clearance and tied for fifth. VMI grabbed a pair of top eight results in two additional events, as
Joel Hoisington (sixth – 14.03 M/46'0 ½”) and
Jordan White (eighth – 13.65 M/44'9 ½”) did so in the shot put and
Jason Thorpe (seventh – 4:04.37 and
Cabell Willis (eighth – 4:05.03) did so in the 1,500-meters. White was also fifth in the discus, hurling the implement 42.38 meters (139'0”).
In addition,
Brandon Hartman was sixth in the 400-meters with a time of 50.18 seconds, a personal best, and
Brandyn Laury was seventh in the triple jump (12.61 M/41'4 ½”). Finally, the 4X400-meter relay of Fisher (51.7), Martin (50.8),
Booth Hornsby (51.5) and
Jacob Lysher (49.8) finished fourth in 3:25.19.
VMI track and field will return to action Saturday, taking part in the George Mason Invitational in Fairfax, Va.
