One Record Falls, JMU Wins Four Events at Split-Squad Meets

Saturday, January 17

Lexington, Ky.

All Day

James Madison University

Kentucky Invitational

One Record Falls, JMU Wins Four Events at Split-Squad Meets

1/18/2015 12:38:00 AM | Track & Field

Kentucky Invitational Results
Liberty Open Results

HARRISONBURG, Va. – The James Madison track & field team competed in two separate events Saturday with a handful of student-athletes participating in the Kentucky Invitational in Lexington while another group went south for the Liberty Open in Lynchburg, Va.

Overall, the Dukes had first place finishes in four events – all at the Liberty Open – while one personal best was eclipsed and one school record was broken at the Kentucky Invitational.

In Lexington, sophomore De'Ana Forbes (Danville, Va./George Washington) set the school record in the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 8.56 seconds in the preliminary heats. Last week at the Navy Winter Invitational, Forbes qualified for the ECAC Championship meet in the race with a time of 8.74 seconds. At the time, the mark ranked second in program history. In the finals, Forbes finished eighth overall with a time of 8.70 seconds.

Sophomore Annie Johnson (Medford, N.J./Shawnee) had a strong day in the 200-meter dash and 60-meter dash in Lexington, posting a time of 25.58 seconds to record a personal best in the 200. Her previous best was 25.62 seconds. In the 60-meter dash, she finished in 7.78 seconds, which fell five one-hundredths of a second shy of her personal best. Also in the 60-meter dash, sophomore Abby Duncan (Keedysville, Md./Boonsboro) finished with a time of 7.89 seconds. That mark fell two one-hundredths of a second off her personal best of 7.87 in the event.

In the 400-meter dash at the Kentucky Invitational, senior Destiny Simmons (Staunton, Va./Robert E. Lee) and freshman Tyrah Burrow (Hampton. Va/Hampton) finished back-to-back with times of 58.22 seconds and 58.35 seconds, respectively.

At the Liberty Open, sophomore Carol Strock (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Cumberland Valley) continued her strong start to the season by winning the 800-meter run with a time of 2:21.79. She has won each of the two races she has run this season, as Strock took the title in the 1,000-meter run last week in Annapolis, Md. Senior Kristen Landry (Boonton Township, N.J./Mountain Lakes) finished right behind Strock in second place with a time of 2:23.13.

Senior Morgan Sheaffer (New Bloomfield, Pa./West Perry) nearly set a new personal best in the 500-meter dash in Lynchburg with a time of 1:17.99. Finishing first in the race, her all-time best in the 500-meter dash is 1:17.16, which was set at the Navy Invitational on Jan. 15, 2012. Senior Kelsey Langton (Hamilton Square, N.J./Notre Dame Prep) placed fourth with a time of 1:19.88. Senior Jasmine Waddell (Mount Royal, N.J./Kingsway Regional) finished sixth in the race by posting a mark of 1:22.32. It was her first time running the 500-meter dash.

Senior Tiel Westbrook (Mechanicsville, Va./Lee-Davis) took the victory in the 1,000-meter run with a time of 2:59.76. She was followed by freshman Erica Gray (Yardley, Pa./Pennsbury) and freshman Haley Mahn (Pennington, N.J./Hopewell Valley), who finished third and fourth with times of 3:01.53 and 3:05.55, respectively.

To close out the individual victories, sophomore Ally Bodmer (Manassas, Va./Forest Park (Virginia Tech)) won the 3,000-meter run with a time of 10:47.97. She won the race by more than 20 seconds, as the runner-up posted a time of 11:07.98.

The Dukes take two weeks off between Saturday and their next meet, as JMU's next time competing will come in the Patriot Games at George Mason University on Saturday, Jan. 31. The meet is set to start at 9 a.m.