VIRGINIA CHALLENGE RESULTS | GEORGIA TECH INVITATIONAL RESULTS

ATLANTA/CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The Lee University men's track & field team participated in a pair of meets this weekend. The Flames sent a small contingent of athletes to the Virginia Challenge to compete in the 5K and 10K events Friday evening, while the rest of the team was at the Georgia Tech Invitational on Friday and Saturday.

Matthew Fowler set a Lee record in the 10K with a fourth-place finish of 29:38.56. The previous record of 29:56.40 had been claimed by Caleb Eagleson at the Raleigh Relays last year. Fowler's time puts him at No. 24 among NCAA Division II performers.

Joining Fowler in the 10K in Virginia was Jon Fielding Stogner and Aaron Himes. Stogner placed 22^nd with a time of 31:22.14, while Himes did not finish. Silas Eckenroad completed the 5K Invite race at 14:37.39 to place 31^st.

In Atlanta, Cale Kassen improved his national-qualifying mark in the 400-meter hurdles and Titus Lagat did the same in the 800-meter run.

Kassen finished fourth in the 400-meter hurdles with a mark of 52.64 seconds. Niquaine Henry placed 10^th (54.42) and Stacen Cunningham (55.55) was 20^th. Cameron Stine (15.64) and Caleb Long (15.78) were 16^th and 17^th, respectively, in the 110 hurdles.

Lagat completed the 800 in 1:50.62 for fifth place. Roberto Fajardo was 14^th (1:53.60), Ryan Lovelace (1:54.72) was 19^th, Jacob Hatcher (1:55.35) placed 22^nd, Evan Moore was 38^th (1:56.76) and Stephen Clark finished at 2:02.71 for 80^th.

Eli Brooks moved up to No. 49 on the DII performance list in the pole vault with a clearance of 4.70 meters.

Hatcher added a 12^th-place finish in the 1500-meter run after crossing the finish line at 3:52.90. Caleb Guthery was 19^th (3:54.82), Moore was 32^nd (3:57.86) and Adan Rodriguez finished 55^th (4:02.26).

Doniven Jackson was 36^th in the 100-meter dash with a time of 11.05 seconds. Cameron Stine was 51^st at 11.49.

The 4x100 relay team (Kassen, Nokia Masengu, Justin Steele and Stine) finished eighth with a combined time of 41.07 seconds, while the 4x400 team of Lovelace, Fajardo, Hatcher and Cunningham claimed seventh with a time of 3:16.45.

Steele posted a top-50 DII mark in the 400-meter dash. His time of 47.99 was good for 10^th at the Georgia Tech Invitational and is No. 47 among DII competitors so far this season. He also placed 15^th in the 200 with a time of 22.10. Masengu was 28^th (48.97) in the 400.

Ezekiel Harless and Clark were Lee's representatives in the 3000-meter steeplechase. Harless stopped the clock at 9:50.44 (16^th) and Clark was right behind in 17^th (9:50.46).

Kassen added an 11^th-place finish in the long jump with a mark of 6.80 meters.

The Flames had five athletes compete in the throwing events. Camden Williams was 18^th with a throw of 14.49 meters in the shot put. Matthew Black finished 26^th with a mark of 12.46 meters and was 18^th with a hammer throw of 45.17 meters. Braxton Philpott tossed the discus 42.47 meters to finish 19^th. Long and Brooks claimed top 10 finishes in the javelin throw. Long was ninth with a throw of 54.51 meters, while Brooks' mark of 50.78 meters was 10^th.

The Flames return to action the weekend of May 4-6 in the Gulf South Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championships. The three-day event will be held at the Ray Conn Sports Complex.