Virginia Wesleyan College opened its track season at Christopher Newport University this past weekend. The Marlins as a team ran well with freshmen stepping up in different events giving them a good new look for the season.
Jayla Cross was one of those freshmen who stood out as a leader of her team in the 200 meter race. She posted a time of 27.96 in her first ever collegiate track meet. Marissa Coombs continued to be a top competitor in the ODAC.
Coombs finished third in her 3000 meter race. Beating the fourth-place competitor by a solid 11 seconds. The men’s team had many participants from their team compete but none of them made it into the finals.
A.J. Ramirez finished 20th out of 64 other runners, Karium Dunn ran the 400 meter in 52.92 and Trey White ran the best race of the day for the Marlins. He placed second in the 800 meter run with a time of 1:58.04.
The Marlins field team did solid work as well at the opening meet at CNU. In his first ever collegiate competition, Andrew Bjorklund had a good day in the long jump event. He jumped 19’ 11”, which left him right in the middle of the competition. He placed 13th out of the 26 competitors.
Another new Marlin, Antonio Boone, competed for the first time as a VWC athlete. Boone came to VWC by way of Richard Bland Community College. He ran the best time for the Marlins in the 60 meter preliminaries with a time of 9.37. Boone also took part in the long jump where he posted a 19’ 0.75.”
The distance team, led by Trevor Maloney, posted decent numbers in their first meet of the season. Maloney led 10 Marlins in the mile, posting a time of 4:38.91. That time landed him 18th out of 42 competitors.
The Marlins shone in the 4×400 relay sending three te
ams into the running blocks and having one team finish near the top. The team of Ramirez, Frye, White and Dunn ran a nice time of 3:33.82. That time put them in fifth.
The track and field team will be back in action again on January 13. They will be competing in the CNU Quad at the Freeman Center in Newport News, on the campus of CNU.
Corey King
ckking1@vwc.edu
(Photo: Val Miller | Marlin Chronicle)
