The High Point University men's and women's track and field squads wrapped up its first weekend of competition in the 2023 portion of the indoor season at the Virginia Tech Invitational and the Dick Taylor Carolina Challenge. HPU had four individual champions across the two meets while Sydney Koker set a program record in the women's high jump in her first meet as a Panther.
 
VIRGINIA TECH INVITE
Dae'Nitra Hester was the champion in the women's 400m dash as HPU swept the podium in the event. Hester crossed the finish line first in 56.70 while Marissa Blakely finished runner up and Lindsay Cooper followed for third. Blakely edged Cooper by three-hundredths of a second. Both times were recorded as 56.91 and rank seventh and eighth in High Point program history. Hester and Blakely also finished in the top-five of the women's 200m dash. Blakely finished third in the event in 24.97 while Hester was fourth in 25.16.  Cooper finished 16^th in the 200m with a time of 25.77. Ebba Ahman and Abi Craig also competed in both sprint races, as Ahman finished 5^th in the 400m (57.86) and 20^th in the 200m (26.38) while Craig finished 11^th in the 400m (59.84) and 22^nd in the 200m (26.95).
 
High Point placed four in the top-five of the women's 800m as well. Nikki Frail led the Panthers, finishing second in 2:17.85 while Camryn Harper was third (2:18.28), Joanna Poland was fourth (2:18.74) and Mikayla Moxley was fifth (2:19.03).
 
In field event action, Sydney Horn nearly broke her own school record in the pole vault, finishing third with a mark of 4.45m. Mackenzie Horn finished eighth in the same event, going 4.15m while Rachel Vesper posted a mark of 3.85m, finishing in 13^th place. Alicia Dawson finished fourth in the long jump with a mark of 5.87m and Jordan Pringle was 18^th (5.08m)
 
On the men's side, Deron Dudley captured gold in the 200m dash with a time of 21.64. Terris Burton was the highest Panther finisher in the 400m with a time of 50.49. Isaiah Muse ran both the 200m and the 400m, finishing 14^th in the 200m (22.99) and ninth in the 400m (51.07). Julian Bennett and Trent Strachan both ran each race as well. Bennett finished 13^th in both races, finishing in 51.19 in the 400m and 22.90 in the 200m while Strachan was 14^th in the 400m (51.26) and 15^th in 200m (23.40).
 
In field events, Jackson Tuomey and Nick Lourenco each posted top-10 program bests in the pole vault. Toumey finished fifth overall with a mark of 5.05m, good for third best in High Point history. Lourneco was ninth with a mark of 4.90m and posted the sixth-best program mark in the event. Freddie Allen III, Larry Coaxum, Dekairi Brown, and Michael Henson also competed in the men's long jump. Allen was fourth with a mark of 7.11m and Coaxum also finished in the top-10 with a mark of 6.88m, good for seventh place. Brown was 11^th (6.71m) and Henson finished 14^th (6.57m)
 
DICK TAYLOR CAROLINA CHALLENGE
Sydney Koker made a strong debut as a Panther, setting a new program record in the high jump and winning the event with a mark of 1.71m. Letizia Marsico, Liana Betts, and Lilly Wolf were other Panther women competing at the meet, all in the shot put. Marsico finished third in the event with a mark of 14.21m while Betts was 14^th (11.39m) and Wolf was 21^st (9.85).
 
On the men's side, Chris Van Niekerk won the shot put in his first meet back after suffering a season-ending injury last April. His mark of 17.10m won the event by nearly two and a half feet. Alex Hoffman finished fifth in the event with a mark of 15.30m while Harrison Waddell was 13^th (12.45m). Felix LeBlanc, Kolt Byers and Evan Mills also competed in the event. LeBlanc finished 15^th (12.24m), Mills was 17^th (11.15m), and Byers was 18^th (10.20m). Hoffman also recorded a personal best in the weight throw, finishing seventh with a mark of 17.12m which is the second-best in program history. Waddell finished 11^th in the event with a mark of 14.74m while James Sandoval finished 16^th with a mark of 10.67m.
 
LeBlanc was the highest Panther finisher in the long jump with a mark of 6.35m that was good for fifth place. Lawson Kilpatrick finished sixth (6.08m), David Caivano was 7^th (6.05m), Byers was 10^th (5.71m), and Eric Garguilo was 11^th (5.30m). Alex Constantinou tied for second in the high jump, finishing with a mark of 1.85m while Mills was sixth (1.80m).
 
Up Next: High Point travels to Navy for the Wesley A. Brown Invitational next weekend, January 20^th-21^st.