HIGH POINT, N.C. – The High Point men's and women's track and field teams hosted the annual VertKlasse Meet at Vert Stadium on April 5-6. Fans witnessed a packed weekend of track events along with a first-ever flyover, some trivia, mascot and kids races and a race walk mixed in.
 
In day one the Panthers registered multiple personal bests in multiple events. Mikalyn Freeman opened the morning in the women's hammer with a 39.28-meter throw.
 
In the women's pole vault group B, Kaitlin Richards cleared 3.34m for a personal best.
 
It was the HPU women's 3000m steeplechase debut as three women competed for the Panthers. Shauna Skow and Madeline Quinn placed in the top 10, eight and nine respectively with times of 11:34.73 and 11:42.71. Quinn's time was a personal best.
 
On the men's side in the steeplechase, Alex Contreras placed first in his heat to finish ninth overall in the field of 30 participants. His time of 9:53.34 was a personal best for the freshman.
 
Cole Wilson had the highest placement on the day for the Panthers. He placed second overall in the men's long jump recording a season best jump 7.06m. For the women, Ava Bugenhagen recorded a personal best 4.83m while Karlea Duhon had a season best, 5.34m.
 
Wrapping up day one of the VertKlasse, three Panthers punched personal bests in the men's javelin all finishing 9th-11th. Kolt Byers placed ninth with a throw of 52.16m, Brandon Lewis placed 10th with a 51.32m throw and Ryan Tenor Jr. placed 11th with a throw of 51.26m.
 
Three HPU athletes kicked off Saturday's running events on the track with the men's 800m participant race. Zach Davis and Jayden Feliciano posted personal bests as Davis placed sixth overall. Davis ran 1:58.28 while Feliciano ran 1:59.85.
 
In the men's 110m hurdles, five Panthers represented HPU. Cole Wilson placed the highest in sixth place with a time of 15.47. Kolt Byers and Felix Leblanc placed 11th and 12th with times of 15.91 and 16.12 respectively.
 
Chris Van Niekerk took home the trophy in the men's shot put. The senior threw a distance of 17.40m. Nick Morse followed with a fourth-place finish after throwing 15.91m. Van Niekerk also competed in the men's discus and placed third overall throwing a distance of 54.22m.
 
Letizia Jessica Marsico placed seventh in the women's discus throw with a personal best distance of 47.72. She later placed 12th in the shot put throwing 13.57m.
 
In the high jump events, Shaun Thomas placed third for the men after clearing a height of 2.05m. For the women, Sydney Koker placed fifth after clearing a height of 1.65m.
 
High Point's pole vault coach Scott Houston competed in the men's pole vault group A section and placed second overall with a clearance of 5.36m.
 
With a break in the middle of the day, fans witnessed the first flyover at Vert Stadium as the Bandit Flight Team put on a show for crowd following the national anthem. HPU also recognized 22 seniors for their hard work and dedication to the program.
 
Moving into the short sprints later in the afternoon, A'lajuwan Robinson clocked a 10.55 second 100m dash to earn fourth place. Tynelius Morrow came in ninth with a time of 10.67 seconds.
 
In the men's 400m race, two Panthers placed fifth and sixth, Kelly Bell and Aidan Britt. Bell clocked a 48.88 time while Britt was on his tail with a time of 49.31.
 
High Point's men's 4x100m team finished second overall and recorded a program record with a time of 40.21 seconds. The team consisted of Tyneilus Morrow, A'lajuwan Robinson, Deron Dudley and Marquis Belle.
 
In the hurdle events, Lindsey Cooper and Karlea Duhon placed in the top five in the women's 100m hurdles. Cooper finished third with a time of 13.87 seconds while Duhon placed fifth with a time of 14.32 seconds.
 
Three athletes for High Point placed in the top 10 in the women's 800m race. Nikki Frail placed fourth with a time of 2:11.88, Jillian Thorning placed seventh with a time of 2:15.31 and Mikayla Moxley placed ninth with a time of 2:16.92.
 
As for the men's 800m, Graham Ferguson was the overall winner with a new personal best time of 1:51.59.
 
Closing out the VertKlasse Meeting, High Point's 4x400m relay B team won the final race of the meet with a time of 3:17.63.
 
UP NEXT:
High Point travels to California for two meets and down the road to Durham for the Duke Invitational next weekend, April 11-13.