ELON, N.C. – The UNCW men's and women's outdoor track and field teams opened competition at the Coastal Athletic Association Championships on Friday with two podium finishes and seven athletes advancing to Saturday's finals.
"The team showed up to Day 1 prepared and ready to perform", said Head Coach Jeff Klaves. "Day 2 is going to be exciting if we show up with the same mentality we had today. Our mission statement is 'Be the Standard' for a reason, and this team continues to show up rep after rep, moment after moment. We are going to keep fighting for every inch, every second, and every opportunity to score points and help the team."
Jamisyn Aillet led the Seahawks in the field events with a third-place finish in the women's javelin throw after recording a mark of 132 feet, 5 inches. The sophomore improved on her seventh-place finish from last year's outdoor championship, and her throw now ranks eighth in program history.
Ivan Poag added another podium finish for UNCW with a runner-up performance in the men's long jump. Poag posted a leap of 24-03, moving into eighth place in program history.
Miles Higgins placed fourth in the men's javelin throw with a mark of 194-10. Higgins currently ranks among the top 50 in the NCAA East in the event.
Emma Crozier-Carole earned a fifth-place finish in the women's long jump with a mark of 5.70 meters, finishing just 0.30 meters shy of first place. In tomorrow's finals, she will attempt to improve on her fourth place standing after day one in the women's heptathlon. Cro leads UNCW with 3,005 points, with both her teammates, Kaylee Franklin and Megan Schoenke, in scoring position going into day two.
In the women's hammer throw, Bailey Willard placed 10th overall with a throw of 166 feet, 3 inches.
Seven Seahawks advanced to Saturday's finals, highlighted by Griffin Wald in the men's 1,500 meters. Wald finished fifth overall with a personal-best time of 3:51.15, which ranks fourth in program history.
Cameron Wright advanced to the finals in the 110-meter hurdles after placing fourth overall in 13.87 seconds. Wright remains among the top 40 nationally in the event and set a third all-time placement. Wright also advanced in the men's 100m with a time of 10.57 and finished seventh overall.
Brylee Montanari also qualified for the finals in the women's 100-meter hurdles after finishing fourth overall with a time of 14.03 seconds.
In the 400-meter hurdles, both Sadie Buchanan and Chad Hillman advanced to Saturday's finals. Buchanan placed fourth overall in 1:00.31, while Hillman also finished fourth in the men's event with a time of 52.69 seconds.
Jace Wynn and Lucas Smith each advanced through the preliminaries in the men's 400 meters. Smith placed fifth overall in 46.80 seconds putting him at a third all-time setting, while Wynn finished seventh in 46.98 seconds and sitting at fifth all time and broke his freshman record in the process.
Other notable finishes include Leila Ortiz, who finished 11th overall in the women's 400-meter prelims with a time of 56.96 and set the tenth-best time in program history, a 24.51 finish by Gabrielle Knight and Cooper Kovach in the 1500m set his freshman record with a time of 3:56.18, which beat the last previous time set in 1994.
The Seahawks will close out the final day of the CAA Outdoor Track & Field Championship tomorrow with events starting at 9:30 A.M.
