Special Report to Blowing Rock News from GoASU. January 29, 2012. JOHNSON CITY, TN -- Competing against athletes from more than 20 colleges and universities, the Appalachian State men's and women's track & field teams had 33 "top seven" performers over the weekend at the Niswonger Invitational in Johnson City, hosted by East Tennessee State University.

Robinson, Farr, and 4x400 Team Capture Titles to Lead AppState Women

Appalachian State women’s track and field put together an impressive performance with 14 top-six finishes at the 34th annual Niswonger Invitational hosted by ETSU this weekend.

On Friday, sophomore Shaquiela Robinson cleared 5-6 in the high jump to take the title while freshman Chelsea Farr cleared 11-11.75 to finish first in the pole vault; and  sophomore Cassie Crawford finished in third-place (11-5.75) in the pole vault.

Junior Erika Ivey earned a runner-up finish (39-3.25) in the triple jump, and in the weight throw sophomore Ana DeLeon threw a third-place finish (54-1.25) in weight throw.

On Saturday, Asia Dunlap, Breahna Morrison, Shenita Martin, and Breanna Alston finished in first-place (3:51.83) in the 4x400m relay and were less than six-tenths of a second from breaking the school record.

In the 200m dash the Mountaineers preformed well with junior D'Shawrna McLucas earning a fourth-place finish (25.81) while Morrison finished in fifth (25.87) and Kristen Campbell finished in sixth (25.95).

The sophomore from Winston-Salem, N.C., Campbell sprinted a season-best time of 7.90 to take a fifth-place finish in the 60m dash.

In the distance events, junior Amanda Hamilton crossed the finish line in 17:41.72 to finish in fourth-place in 5,000m run while senior Hannah Orders wasn’t far behind her teammate (18:04.51) to finish in sixth-place.  Sophomore Justine Stocks finished in fifth-place in the seeded mile run, while Allison Cook (5:19.37) and Maria Stickley (5:20.73) took first and second, respectively, in the unseeded mile run.  In the 800m run freshman Taryn Stern grabbed a sixth-place finish with a time of 2:27.18.

Freshman Tatyana Bryant leaped 18-3.25 in her collegiate long jumping debut to claim a sixth-place finish.

The Mountaineers travel to University Park, Pa. for the Sykes-Sabock Challege Cup hosted by Penn State on Feb. 4.

Tiller, Taylor, Moen, Purcell Grab Men's Titles

Appalachian State men’s track and field put together an impressive performance with 16 top-seven finishes at the 34th annual Niswonger Invitational hosted by ETSU this weekend.

On Friday,  sophomore Jamal Tiller launched himself 50-6 for a season-best to win the triple jump, while sophomore Patrick Hill finished in sixth-place with a season-best 45-1.50.  Junior Jared Stalling earned a fourth-place (60-1.25) finish in the weight throw and claimed the shot put title in a personal-best performance (54-0) on Saturday.

Also on Saturday, the Mountaineers’ distance squad found their groove to place six runners in the top-seven.  Junior Alex Taylor led the way in the 3,000m run with a personal-best time of 8:24.93 to put him sixth all-time in ASU’s record book and to take the meet title, while sophomore Will Raby finished in fourth (8:38.46) and senior Brian Graves in seventh-place (8:44.71).  Senior Chris Moen made his season mile run debut with a first-place finish (4:12.55).  Junior Michael Lilley grabbed a sixth-place finish (15:02.62) in the 5,000m run, and freshman Raphael Rojas took a seventh-place finish in the 800m run (2:01.38).

In the 60m hurdles, senior AJ Dohanic took fifth-place finish (8.29), while freshman Stanley Broaden finished right behind the senior for sixth-place (8.31).  David Riddleberger, Dohanic, Broaden, and Tyler Combs earned a fifth-place finish in the 4x400m relay.

Darius Purcell continued his strong start to the season and claimed the high jump title after clearing 6-10.75, while freshman Daryl Saunders finished in third-place (6-6.75).  Freshman Jacob Stowe made his colliegiate debut and grabbed a fourth-place finish (15-1) in the pole vault.

The Mountaineers travel to University Park, Pa. for the Sykes-Sabock Challege Cup hosted by Penn State on Feb. 4.

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