HIGH POINT, N.C. — The High Point University men's track and field team hosted its second home meet of the season that featured several wins across multiple events, meet records, and personal bests throughout the lineup. The annual VertKlasse Meeting panned over a two-day period, as the Panthers welcomed 50 schools to Vert Stadium. This was the Director of Track & Field, Mike Esposito's final VertKlasse Meeting since starting the meet when he took over at HPU.
"It takes everyone", Head Coach and Director of Track & Field Mike Esposito stated, "from my coaches, to Drew Sanchez, to facilities, to sports information, marketing, etc. to be able to do this. It's a mammoth effort and we try to have fun. We can't do that without the support group. I really appreciate that our coaches embrace it because it's a whole lot more work for them than just putting on a regular track meet. And man, our men's team this week was just wow. I couldn't be more proud of them and their leadership."
The distance runners opened the running on Thursday afternoon. In the 1500 meter, Gavin Stevens and Avery Crowell finished within the top 10. Luke Simpson had a strong showing in the 3000m steeplechase winning the event for the second time this season with a 9:18.15 personal best time. Closing out the final races on the track Thursday night, Crowel placed sixth in the 5000m with a 14:55.75 time followed by Blake Nicholson and Max Bonilla in the top 10. Simon Triezenburg captured the 10,000 meter, adding another gold to HPU's total after crossing the finish line with a 31:37.18 time. Ari Snyder crossed shortly after in second place and recorded a 31:42.16 time.
Rounding out the distance events for the Panthers with one race on Friday, AJ Miller took first place and set both a meet record and a facility record, standing out as one of the top performances of the meet with a 1:48.67 time.
Moving on to the sprinting events, Tim Brown placed fourth in the 400m race after posting a 46.75 season-best time.
In the hurdles, Dominiq Northington continued his impressive season by breaking the school record in the 110m hurdles, finishing second with a 13.95 time. The previous record had stood since 1993, held by Brian Payne. Ethan Stallone placed sixth with a 14.52 time in the hurdles, and Cole Wilson finished eighth with a 14.71 time, both earning new personal bests. Then in the 400m hurdles, Stallone had another sixth finish with a 56.08 time.
The Panthers continued their relay success by winning the 4x100m relay in 40.57 seconds led by Nigel Steenwinkel, Keshon Sapp, Myles Darroch and Dominiq Northington. Later in the 4x400m relay, the team finished second with a time of 3:11.61.
In the field events, Mobo Nwakor delivered a personal best 15.02m in the triple jump. Shaun Thomas registered a season-best 2.07m bar in the high jump followed by John Connors with a 1.97m mark to finish fourth.
High Point had victories in both pole vault sections. In the pole vault B section, Cole Wilson claimed first place after clearing 4.81m on Thursday. Then in the pole vault A section, Ricardo Montes De Oca took first place with a school record clearance of 5.51m, while Jason Olivera, Jr. finished second at 5.31m and Grant Gogel placed third with a season best 5.21m and a clean sweep of the podium.
The throws group added more strong results. High Point's Drew Noblet secured the title in the javelin after throwing a big throw for a personal best 69.16m. Caleb Barley hit a personal best 50.26 meters in the hammer throw and placed second in the shot put with a mark of 17.46 meters. The biggest breakthrough came from Prince Brockington, who had never thrown over 50 meters in the hammer until this meet. On his final attempt, he launched a personal best 54.85 meters, earning second place and marking a major career milestone.
"I cannot say enough about how much Coach Hall has taken on this role as a mentor to Coach Post with our throwers" Coach Esposito added. "He has helped smooth over this transition for next year."
With multiple event wins, new records, and depth across every discipline, High Point continued to build momentum as the outdoor season progresses.
UP NEXT:
The Panthers now turn their attention to their next challenge at two meets the following weekend at the Duke Invitational (April 9-11) and at the 44 Farms Invite (April 9-11).
#GoHPU x #DefendTheTeam
