Roanoke College records fell in the long jump, 4×400, shot put and 110m hurdles for the men’s track & field team at the Dennis Craddock Coaches Classic in Lynchburg last weekend. The meet was held at Shellenberger Field at the University of Lynchburg.
Salem High grad Mitchell Taylor took first in the 110m hurdles with a school-record time of 14.56 seconds. A freshman, Taylor now ranks second in both the conference and region, as well as 21st in the NCAA. Taylor also placed fourth in the 400m hurdles, registering a time of 56.72 seconds.
DeShawn Austin, a freshman from William Byrd High School, set a new program standard in the long jump, breaking a record held by Bob Shelton that had stood for over 40 years with a leap of 7.23m. He finished first in the event, and he now sits atop the conference leaderboard while ranking second in the region and tied for sixth in the country. DeShaw also took third in the 400 meters.
Roanoke’s 4×400 relay team reset the school record for the second time in less than a month, as the quartet of Max Cardwell, Bryson Hill, Brandon Heffinger and Lorenzo Camobreco won the event in 3:16.87. That time currently leads the ODAC and the NCAA South Region, and it ranks 13th in Division III.
Kyle Stephens rounded out the record breakers with a toss of 14.47m in the shot put. He finished fourth in the event, and he now ranks third in the ODAC and seventh regionally.
For the women the Maroons’ 4×400 relay team of Ophelia Ladner, Mae Kaufman, Maryrose Molina-Shuman and Lindsey Hobin clocked in at 3:51.78 to place second overall. Their time ranks second in the ODAC – trailing only the Lynchburg quartet that won the event – as well as third in the NCAA South Region and 11th in the country.
Roanoke will compete in both the WildCat Invitational at Randolph College in Lynchburg and the Virginia Challenge in Charlottesville this weekend.
