by Benny Benton
FAIRFAX, Va. – The Barton College men's track and field team set five school indoor records on Saturday during competition at the Father Diamond Invitational, hosted by George Mason University.
Sophomore Semaj Street accounted for two of those records, setting new school standards in both the 60-meter and 200-meter dashes. The Fayetteville, N.C., resident posted a time of 7.09 seconds in the preliminary round of the 60-meters, easily surpassing the old BC mark of 7.91 seconds recorded last year by Zachary Thompson. Street placed 13th overall in a primarily NCAA Division I field of 52, one finishing spot and .01 off a qualifying spot for the semifinals.
In the 200-meter dash, Street raced to a time of 23.22, shaving three one-hundredths of a second of the two-year-old Barton record of 23.25 set by Anthony Nelson in the 2013 Gene Anderson Invitational.
Sophomore Tyler Amerson eclipsed his own Bulldog record in the 3000-meter run by cutting his old time of 10:09.97 set in last year's Vince Brown Invitational down to 9:50.52. Amerson finished the event six seconds ahead of teammate Adam Pope, who posted a personal record in the race with his time of 9:56.67.
The other two Barton school records were both achieved in relay events, one improving upon an existing mark and the other setting a benchmark by being run for the first time. The quartet of Lashley Winter, Cody Warner, Daniel Strutton and Sebaston Barrett clipped a half-second off the old BC 4x400 mark with an effort of 3:41.44. Barton competed in its first indoor 4x800 relay in the meet, with Jose Simpre joining Barrett, Strutton and Warner in setting an initial record of 9:07.68.
Warner was one of three Barton newcomers to create personal benchmarks with their first indoor starts. The freshman from West End, N.C., ran a time of 2:10.98 in the 800-meter run, a second better than fellow freshman Barrett, who produced a time of 2:11.18. Junior transfer Jahmoul Gordon made his debut in the Royal Blue and White with a time of 55.14 seconds in the 400-meter run.
One other personal record was set by sophomore Hunter Hinson, whose toss of 9.14 meters in the shot put beat his previous mark by .03.
The Bulldogs will return to action beginning Friday when they compete in the two-day Niswonger Invitational in Johnson City, Tenn. The event will be hosted by East Tennessee State University.
