Eight members of Kennesaw State’s track and field teams took to Winston-Salem, North Carolina, to compete in the pentathlon and heptathlon events held at the Queens University Combined Events Feb. 5-6.
The women competing in the pentathlon participated in a 60-meter hurdle, high and long jumps, shot put and an 800-meter run to close. The heptathlon held seven events for the men which included all events from the pentathlon with the addition of a pole vault and a 1000-meter run.
The event opened Monday afternoon with four of the events from the men’s heptathlon, and Paris Williams put on a show for the Owls. The reigning Atlantic Sun Conference track and field athlete of the week started the event by setting a personal record for the 60m dash at 7.00 seconds and winning the race.
Williams kept the pace with a long jump distance of 6.87 meters, getting second place overall, along with a third-place finish in the high jump at 1.85 meters. He would close the day leading the pack on the men’s side, holding a score of 2,900 points.
Teammates David Lott, Karl Joeaar and Kyle Martin all tied for fifth in the high jump with distances of 1.82 meters. Joeaar placed within the top seven for both the 60m and long jump while Martin finished 8th in the shot put event.
The second day of the competition held the women’s pentathlon along with the final three events for the men.
Sophomore Jessica Watkins matched the quality Williams put out the day before, winning both the 60m hurdle at 8.83 seconds and the long jump at 5.60 meters, setting a personal best in the latter.
She also set a personal record in the shot put, logging a distance of 11.01 meters, while fellow sophomore Areale Frazier would go on to win that event with a toss of 11.90 meters.
Williams once again started hot on the second day with a first-place finish in the 60m hurdle for the men with a time of 8.13 seconds. Lott placed in second for the 1000m run with a career-best time of 2:46.38, and the men closed the day on a good note with Martin landing within the top 10 for the pole vault.
The combined individual performances of the men were enough to grab a win for the men’s side as a whole, racking up 11 points in the close victory.
Director of track and field Andy Eggerth was pleased with both team’s performances as the squads prepare for finals.
“We competed well today with PR’s in every event area with the exception of the mid-distance run,” Eggerth said. “There’s still plenty of improvement to be had but for the men to win this meet was good to see going into conference.”
