LEXINGTON, Va. - A dramatic rally in the men's 4X800-meter relay highlighted the VMI Keydet efforts on the opening day of the Keydet Invitational, contested at the Corps Physical Training Facility on VMI Post Friday.

The Keydets trailed for much of the event before Josh Willard outpaced runners from Savannah State and Norfolk State on the final leg, leading to a rousing ovation from the home crowd for the winning time of 8:02.49 for Willard, Kyle Sabourin, Micah Ellington and Jackson Betts.

The women's DMR also had a strong performance, as Bethany King passed a Hampton runner in the final leg of the race to earn the Keydets the runner-up position behind Elon. Logan Luckett, Christina Hill, Julianne Knoblett and King timed in at 12:32.71.

Other VMI results were led by Lee Warren being the #3 qualifier to Saturday's final in the 60-meter hurdles (8.20), while Kerisha Goode qualified to the ECAC Championships in the 60-meter dash with a 7.70 time.

Goode finished just 10th overall, however, as the track saw blistering times that included the fifth-fastest men's 60-meter hurdle time (7.75, Jovaine Atkinson of Liberty) and the third-fastest women's 60-meter hurdle time in Division I (8.18, Gabriele Cunningham of NC State) so far this season.

"Today was a great day for our program," said VMI head coach Darrin Webb. "Our team did an excellent job and our facility was strong, as top-level times were posted throughout. We look forward to more great track and field action tomorrow."

VMI track and field will resume the Keydet Invitational Saturday morning at 10 a.m. Admission to the meet is free.