The High Point University men's and women's track and field teams completed day one action at the Darius Dixon Memorial Invite in Lynchburg while two Panther women competed at the Music City Challenge in Nashville. Othmane El Gharissi broke the indoor school record in the men's 3,000m run while two HPU female athletes claimed first-place finishes in their respective events.

Another meet, another ?? SCHOOL RECORD ?? posted!! Othmane El Gharissi records a time of 8:11.85 to beat Hocine Bouchrak's time of 8:12.64, also set at the Darius Dixon Memorial in 2022.#DefendTheTeam x #GoHPU pic.twitter.com/a08wefgmRq

— HPU T&F/XC (@HPUTrack) February 11, 2023

 
Head coach Mike Esposito: "A track and field team is like an orchestra. All the different instruments sometimes practice separately, but hten they all have to come together and perform as one. Each of our event groups, on both genders, took a step forward. Our men's distance showed some life, and how about the women? The pole vaulters were exceptional, sprinters competed well, and our jumpers showed progress as well. In addition, our women's distance group continues to be the class of the Big South. I can't say enough about Rachel Vesper (pole vault), 4.26 meters is top-16 in the country. I don't know of any other athlete who has improved that much since high school. Coach Houston does an amazing job with the vaulters. My entire staff does great things with their event groups. Tomorrow is another day to get the whole band back together. Many of our athletes will be doubling back while a few others will get their opportunity to shine. Some days you are the hammer, and some days you are the nail. Both build. Tomorrow we want to be the hammer."
 
Ashley Jones and Lindsey Ickes ran at the Music City Challenge on Vanderbilt's campus. Jones just missed Ickes' school record in the 5,000m, finishing 12^th in their heat with an indoor-personal-best time of 16:32.93. Ickes was 13^th in the heat with a time of 16:50.40.
 
At the Darius Dixon Memorial, Dae'Nitra Hester finished 10^th in the women's 60m dash prelims with a time of 7.89 seconds, just eight one-hundredths of a second off her career best. Hester also ran to a fourth-place finish in the 400m dash with a season-best time of 56.36. Marissa Blakely also ran a season-best in the event, finishing sixth in 56.45. Lindsay Cooper (11^th, 57.04), Abi Craig (12^th, 57.27), and Ebba Ahman (20^th, 58.13) were other Panther finishers in the event. Cooper and Ahman competed in the 60m hurdle semifinals, finishing sixth and 11^th, respectively. Cooper missed her season best by four one-hundredths of a second, finishing in 8.50 to qualify for finals while Ahman tied her personal best with a time of 8.70 seconds.
 
Katie Taylor and Anna Ritter finished third and seventh, respectively, in their heat of the 5,000m run. Taylor posted a personal best by nearly 22 seconds, crossing the finish line in 17:15.77. Nikki Frail and Camryn Harper also finished in the top-15 of the 800m run. Frail was 10^th in 2:14.01, an indoor personal-best by one second while Harper was 15^th in 2:14.65.
 
HPU women claimed two gold medals in field events as well. Sydney Horn won the women's pole vault (elite section) with a mark of 4.36m while Alicia Dawson posted a mark of 6.02m to win the long jump. Rachel Vesper and Mackenzie Horn finished fourth and fifth in the pole vault to round out the top-five. Vesper posted a career-best mark of 4.26m, her previous best of 4.13m was set at last year's Big South Outdoor Championships. Anjali Mead also finished ninth in the elite section of the pole vault with a mark of 3.76m.
 
For the men, Ethan Roach finished first in the semis/finals section of the 60m dash in 6.78 seconds, a personal best. El Gharissi posted his personal best in the 3,000m while Hunter Steinau ran the 5,000m in 14:52.18, good for 13^th place.
 
Terris Burton had a pair of top-15 finishes in day one action, finishing ninth in the 60m hurdle prelims (8.54) before finishing 11^th in the 400m dash in 49.13. Aidan Britt led HPU in the 400m sprint, finishing seventh in 49.03, a career-best time.
 
Freddie Allen III and Michael Henson posted top-10 finishes in the men's long jump. Allen finished fourth with a mark of 7.11m while Henson recorded a personal best of 7.00m, a 0.33m improvement, for seventh place.
 
Up Next: HPU is set to return for day two at the Darius Dixon Memorial Invite at Liberty. Field events are set to begin at 10:30 a.m. while running events are slated for an 11:10 a.m. start.