by Benny Benton
JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. – The Barton College men's track and field team recorded seven top-20 finishes during the ETSU Invitational this weekend at East Tennessee State University.
Sophomore Micah Clemons posted a fifth place finish out of 37 participants in the weight throw with a toss of 16.39 meters, and junior Larry Russell placed seventh out of 25 competitors in the high jump with a leap of 1.93 meters.
Senior Joel Lagat narrowly missed a top-10 finish in the 800-meter run, placing 11th out of 54 runners with a mark of 1:58.85. The time was 1.19 seconds short of Barton's indoor school record.
Barton's distance medley foursome also placed 11th (11:17.27), and the Bulldogs received top-20 showings from Avery Smith in the weight throw (18th, 13.91 meters), Aaron Jones in the 400-meter run (18th, 51.13) and Clemons in the shot put (19th, 13.09 meters).
Seniors Collin Wilks and Qasim Ray both recorded indoor personal records in the 200-meter dash (23.44 and 24.12 seconds, respectively), and four team members posted benchmark PRs by competing in an event for the first time in their careers.
The Bulldogs will return to action next Saturday when they compete in the Wake Forest Invitational.
