LEXINGTON, Va. - Kerisha Goode swept the 60 and 200-meter events, winning the 60 in school record time, while Logan Luckett won both the mile and the 3,000-meters to lead the VMI women's track and field team past The Citadel Bulldogs, 87-51, in dual meet action Saturday at the Corps Physical Training Facility in Lexington. The meet was the first NCAA competition inside the building that houses VMI's new indoor track.
The Keydets were never particularly threatened in Saturday's dual, and Goode and Luckett were two prime reasons why. The freshman cruised to a victory in the 3K (10:51.53), about an hour after holding off teammate Bethany King in the mile, 5:27.86 to 5:28.94. Luckett continued her streak of never finishing behind a teammate in any individual race in her short collegiate career, dating back to the cross country season.
Goode set the women's program's standard for speed on the new facility's sprint straight, breaking Shelly Mackall's 14-year old school record by winning the 60 in 7.69 seconds. She then returned to win the 200 in 25.04, with both times standing as ECAC qualifying marks.
Another victor Saturday was Yaa Agyepong-Wiafe, who prevailed in the 60 hurdles in an ECAC qualifying time of 8.78. It was the second straight meet that had seen Agyepong-Wiafe hit the ECAC standard. She also ran a 7.79 in the 60-meter dash, good for second place behind Goode and a personal best time.
In addition, Julianne Knoblett won the 800-meters in 2:26.23.
The Keydets also captured multiple wins in the jumps, with Bria Anderson winning the long jump in 5.68 meters (18'7 3/4") and falling just shy of ECAC qualification in the process, while Kennedy Smith won the triple jump (10.69 M/35'1") and Julia Logan won the high jump (1.50 M/4'11").
Finally, the throwing events saw Tiffany Quick be victorious in the shot put (12.38 M/40'7 3/4") and move up to #3 on the all-time VMI list in that event, while Elizabeth Johnston was second in the weight throw (14.39 M/47'2 3/4") and is now seventh in school history in that discipline.
"Today was a great day for our program," said VMI head coach Darrin Webb. "So many people put in so much time and effort to build and open this facility, and it turned out wonderfully. I would like to thank all the administrators, workers and staff for the various businesses and programs that helped put together this new building, and I would also like to thank the fans that came out today to support our teams. On the women's side, Kerisha Goode and Logan Luckett were outstanding. For Kerisha to finally get the 60 dash record in the first meet here is a great moment. We had several ECAC qualifying marks today as well, and we're very proud of being able to pick up the victory over a quality Citadel team."
VMI track and field will return to action Feb. 10, when the Keydets open competition at the Marshall Invite in Huntington, W.Va.
