Natalie Folsom
Sophomore Mahkayla Hart releases the hammer at the Raleigh Relays meet at Paul Derr Track Facility on Saturday, March 26, 2022.
NC State track and field competed in two different meets on Friday, Feb. 17 and Saturday, Feb. 18: the VT Challenge in Blacksburg, Virginia, and the JDL DMR Invite in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Over the course of the weekend, the Pack saw a new school record and tallied a number of top-10 finishes.
On day one of competition, graduate studentsSavannah Shaw and Timara Chapman, senior Sam Bush and junior Katelyn Tuohy stole the show, setting an NC State record in the women’s distance medley relay at the JDL DMR Invite. Their converted time of 10 minutes and 48.55 seconds ranks second amongst women’s NCAA qualifiers for the event.
At the VT Challenge, Friday’s best performances from the Wolfpack came from the throwing squad, which notched three podium finishes. In the women’s weight throw, junior Makala Wright and sophomore Sydney Freeman took second and third place, respectively. Wright’s throw of 18.10m is the eighth-best in school history. Junior Mahkayla Hart also competed in the event, capturing fifth place with her throw of 17.06m. On the men’s side, freshman Nathan Lau recorded a mark of 17.15m to claim second place and set a new personal best.
The only other red-and-white athletes that competed at the VT Challenge on Friday were sophomores Jakerra Covington and Alex Nunley. Covington placed sixth in the women’s long jump and seventh in the 60m hurdle final while Nunley took fifth in the men’s 60m.
Saturday’s round of competition was less exciting but impressive nonetheless. Sophomore Grant Howlett was the only NC State athlete to compete at the JDL DMR Invite that day, collecting a 10th-place finish in the men’s 800m. Back in Blacksburg, freshman Katie Horne, Hart and Freeman recorded top-10 finishes in the women’s shot put with marks of 12.28m, 11.73m and 11.25m, respectively. Covington finished just behind them in 11th with a mark of 10.84m.
Nunley and Lau represented the Pack on the men’s side as each athlete recorded a top-10 finish. In the shot put, Lau’s mark of 14.46m earned him seventh place. Nunley took eighth in the 200m with a time of 22.62 seconds.
The Wolfpack concludes indoor regular season action with these two meets in the books. Up next, the red-and-white will travel to Louisville, Kentucky to compete in the Indoor ACC Championships beginning on Thursday, Feb. 23.