NEW ORLEANS – In the first of three trips to the Birmingham Crossplex, the New Orleans Privateers track and field squad scored a trio of podium finishes and had seven personal bests at the Samford Invitational.
Jaden Forester also broke the program record for the indoor mile on the day.
Forester set a new school mark in the mile by nearly two seconds with a time of 4:09.65. Forester separated from his closest competitor, Kirami Yego of South Alabama in the final stretch. The winning margin was .73 seconds. The tandem were inseparable coming around the bend but Forester edged clear once they straightened away for the finish.
The previous men's indoor record was held by
Alec Snell who had a best time of 4:11.34.
Alexandra Weir also notched a top-three finish with a third in the women's mile. Weir destroyed her previous mark as she ran a 4:48.88. Her previous best was 4:53.97.
Kolyn Saltzman finished the day for the Privateers with a third-place finish in the men's 3000. Saltzman finished with a time of 8:31.56. Three Privateer runners also finished in the top 10 out of 26 runners:
Evan Pardo (seventh),
Mason Appleton (eighth) and
Ryan Guenthner (tenth). Pardo's time of 8:39.35 was also a personal best.
Anna Martin made a big jump in the 800. She won her heat, which was the last of four. Martin stopped the clock in 2:23.23, which was an improvement of six seconds over her previous mark. Martin finished 11
th overall in the field of 29.
Aisha Johnson had the distinction of setting new marks in multiple events. Johnson ran a 7.82 in the 60 and a 26.23 in the 200. Those times were .07 and .05 seconds better respectively than her previous marks in those events.
In the 60 on the men's side,
Elliott Cummings won his heat and just missed the podium in the finals. Cummings ran a 6.87 in the finals, which was good for fourth place.
Mason Melancon ran a 6.93, topping his previous best of 6.95.
On the women's side,
Vivette Green was the fourth-fastest qualifier in the 60. In the final, Green shaved .05 seconds off her preliminary time. She stopped the clock at 7.58 which was good for fourth place.
Oxana Bonjorn-Giros beat her personal best in the 3000 by just under seven seconds. Bonjorn-Giros finished second in her heat and 12
th overall while posting a time of 10:23.51. The top Privateer finisher in the event was
Mathilde Helms-Kjaer who placed 10
th with a time of 10:18.41.
FROM COACH MOREAUX
"I am proud of our progress as a group today. We took a small step forward from last week, but still have many loose ends to continue to work on to be where we want to be as a team. Vivette and Elliott got us started with great 60-meter showings."
"Alex and Jaden in the mile were big for us. They're both first in the Southland and they're definitely in a great place at this point in the season. I'm excited for both of their upcoming races.
"In these early season meets, it's important to set our standards high but also understand the process it takes to get there. I feel like we are slowly starting to chip away at that gap as a team."
NEXT UP
The Privateers will travel to Bloomington, Ind. for the Indiana Relays from Jan. 27-28.
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