LYNCHBURG, Va. - The High Point University men's track team opened the season at the Liberty Kickoff at host, Liberty University on Thursday and Friday, December 4-5. The Panthers showed a strong presence at the meet that will help build momentum for the next few months of the indoor season.
Highlighting the meet was Mobu Nwakor, who broke the men's triple jump school record, leaping 15.37 meters and breaking the mark last held by William Narramore in 2016.
Over the two-day meet, HPU had a handful of combined events athletes compete in the heptathlon, competing in half the events on Thursday and the other half on Friday. Cole Wilson finished first overall with 5,723 points, just 49 points less than what he posted a season ago at the Liberty Kickoff in 2024 which is still a facility record at the Liberty Indoor Track Complex with 5,772 points. Wilson placed first in three of the events including the pole vault (4.82m), long jump (7.31m) and the shot put (14.73m). Nigel Steenwinkel and David Caivano also competed in the heptathlon, making it Steenwinkel's first meet in an HPU uniform.
Opening up day two on the track, Dominiq Northington did well in the men's 60m hurdles, running 8.14 seconds for third place and the 60m dash with a 6.98 time for 11th place in two competitive fields. Kelly Bell made a solid effort in the 400m, running a 48.99 time.
Tim Brown ran to the top of the men's 500m race, clocking in at 1:03.23, and AJ Miller secured victory in the 800m with a 1:55.85 time. Also finishing in the top six in the 800m was two freshman, Clark Lalomia and Greg Abel in their season debuts. Lalomia later raced in the mile and placed fifth overall with a 4:13.15 time.
Max Bonilla and Simon Triezenburg made their season debuts, finishing within two seconds of each other in the 3000m. Bonilla clocked an 8:35.40 time for fifth place and Triezenburg recorded an 8:37.93 time for sixth place.
The 4x400m relay team consisting of Brown, Bell, Northington and Connor Hackett came in second place behind Virginia State. Brown clocked the fastest lap before the stick exchange to Bell with a 48.5 second lap.
In the vertical jumps, Jackson Tuomey competed in the pole vault and placed fourth overall with a 5.20m clear. Alex Constantinou and Shaun Thomas placed in the top five in the high jump, as Constantinou cleared 2.05m for third place and Thomas cleared 2.00m for fifth place.
In the throwing events, Caleb Barley placed fourth in the shot put with a 16.60m throw and placed seventh in the weight throw with a 16.13m throw. Prince Brockington and Bradley Weiner also threw over 15.00m and placed eighth and ninth respectively.
High Point will look to build on its season-opening indoor meet and improve times and marks individually as the season progresses.
UP NEXT: A handful of HPU distance runners will travel to Boston, Mass. to compete in the Sharon Colyear-Danville Season Opener on Sunday, December 7. The races will be streamed on FloSports.
#GoHPU x #DefendTheTeam
