Men’s Track
The VMI men’s and women’s track and field teams competed well at the Dalton Ebanks Invitational hosted by George Mason University as multiple cadet-athletes earned top-three finishes in Fairfax, Virginia, April 5–6, 2024.
Top-Three Finishes
- Xander Topos ’25 came in first place in the men’s 400-meter hurdles with a time of 55.06 seconds
- Liam McBride ’24 won the 110-meter hurdles with a new personal-record time of 14.22 seconds for the top finish in the race.
- Cameron Thomas ’27 rebroke his own school record in the pole vault by posting a height of 5.06 meters (16’ 7”) for second place, topping his former best mark of 5.01m (16’ 5.25”) set at the Fred Hardy Invite March 22. That mark dethroned the previous VMI school record of 16’ 4.75” set by J.B. Rosson ’04 in 2004.
- In the open pole vault competition, Jesse Vaughn ’27 placed second with a height of 4.21 meters
Excellent Performances
- Andrew Granger ’24 came in fifth in the hammer throw with a distance of 54.84 meters
- Jacob Garnett ’27 arrived in seventh place in the 200m dash
- Kevin Shank ’27 and Patrick Lowry ’27 competed in the 5,000-meter run. Shank finished 10th overall in 14:58.51, while Lowry came in 24th in 15:28.39
- Keyandre Midgett ’24 and Charles Male ’24 performed well in the long jump, with Midgett placing 11th at 6.46m and Male right behind in 12th at 6.41m
- In the 400-meter dash, Nick Brown ’25 arrived in fifth place in 49.18 seconds, and teammate Xander Topos ’25 finished in 12th in 49.81 seconds.
Excellent Marks
- The 4×100 grouping of Midgett, Garnett, McBride, and Male finished fifth overall in 45.14 seconds
- Hunter Davis ’25 came in seventh in the shot put with a distance of 13.54 meters, and Christian Hyman ’27 was close behind in ninth at 13.05m
- Rafe Clendenin ’27 finished ninth in the discus throw at 45.78m
- Christian Larvie ’25 completed the high jump in 14th at 1.74m
- In the 10,000 meters, Patrick Kiernan ’25 finished 13th overall in 34:07.61
- Isaiah Blount ’25 came in 14th in the 110-meter hurdles in 16.13 seconds
- Colin Crenshaw ’27 finished the 1500 meter with a new PR time of 4:18
Women’s Track
Top-Three Finishes
- Eleyah Armstrong ’25 finished second in the long jump with a distance of 6.01 meters
- Pole vaulter Taylor Hill ’26 highlighted the second day of competition at the meet by placing second overall in the event with a height of 3.56 meters.
- The 4×100 relay team of Jennifer Koumondji ’27, SeMore Green ’26, Heaven Hall ’26, and Armstrong placed third overall with a time of 48.64 seconds.
Excellent Performances
- Morgan Fraser ’27 came in fifth place in the high jump with a height of 1.58 meters
- Anijah James ’27 placed 13th overall in the long jump with a distance of 5.02 meters
- Alina Laforest ’26 came in 18th in the 400m hurdles with a time of 1:09.73
Excellent Marks
- Jenna Kirkland ’24 placed sixth in the discus with a distance of 41.43 meters
- Julie Freitas ’25 came in seventh in the triple jump with a distance of 11.03 meters
- In the javelin throw, Shea Hart ’26 earned 15th place at 27.61 meters
- Kirkland also competed in the shot put and placed 17th at 11.24m, while Diamond Baker ’26 came in 20th at 10.60m
- Koumondji finished 23rd in the 100-meter dash in 12.96 seconds
“We had a good weekend in northern Virginia as we competed in our third outdoor meet of the season,” said Zack Scott ’89, VMI track and field director. “We saw some positive technical improvements and identified a lot of potential improvements that can happen in the next four weeks before our the SoCon Championships. Our next meet Saturday at James Madison will be another opportunity to keep getting a little better each day and compete to win.”
Editor’s Note: This article was first published at vmikeydets.com.
