Friedberg Record Leads the Way for Berry Invitational Highlights

Mt Berry, GA - Reinhardt Track and Field had a very successful weekend at the Berry College Field Day Invitational with, of course, the new NAIA all-time record for Javelin broken by our All-American, David Friedberg. Berry College has one of the top track and field facilities in the North Georgia area, which is equipt with a new throws area for shot put, hammer throw, Javelin, etc...    Several athletes for Reinhardt Track and Field had good days again lowering their overall times and extending the new heights and distances.

Below are some of the new school and personal records that were broken

• Kenadi Aker- 100m: 12.59s 
• Samantha Cramer- High Jump- 1.52m
• Marquia White- Shot Put: 11.15m
• Marquia White- Hammer Throw: 37.29m 
• David Friedberg- Javelin: 76.08m

• Megan Johnson- 1500m- 6:12 (PR)
• Emma Pelfrey- Pole Vault: 2.63m (PR)
• Ramsey Chambers- Hammer Throw: 32.19m (PR)
• Hayden Reyes- 100m: 10.71s (PR)
• Caleb Cottrell- 100m: 11.38s (PR)
• Christopher Smith- 5k: 17:33 (PR)
• Tyler Cheatwood- Javelin: 37.54m (PR)

David Friedberg's throw of 76.08 meters was the talk of the meet as he set the new NAIA record and placed him as the current #8 thrower in America (all levels, pro and collegiate).  To give you an idea of how far 76.08 meters is, it equals about 249.61 feet or 83.2 yards to give you a football field reference.

His distance has him competing with the top sixty throwers in the world, however, the meet where he threw is not recognized by the world organizations at this time.  The throw does give him the A Standard for U.S. Olympic Qualifications which he will be participating in this summer. 

The next events for Friedberg will be the Appalachian Athletic Conference Championships this Thursday, Friday, and Saturday hosted by Columbia International (CIU) in Columbia, SC and then he and Coach Josh White will be heading to the Penn Relays - which will be the top competition in all collegiate levels.  He will then wrap up his NAIA career at the NAIA Nationals in mid-May where he will be going for his third straight NAIA Title.  The future for Friedberg is very bright and the Reinhardt Community hopes to see him competing on the world stage in the years to come.  Eagle Nation is more than proud of what David Friedberg has accomplished over his career.

Friedberg commented about this past weekend and his time with Coach White, "I am very blessed to have such a great connection with Coach White. Every meet I continue to grow and my hard work showed at Berry College. I'm excited to continue to grow and see what the future has in store."

Coach Josh White followed by adding, "David is as hard-working an athlete that I've ever been around. Here at Reinhardt and around the NAIA, we have all seen the work he has put in a ton of hard work and it's starting to at a national level. We're excited as we move through the AAC meet and get to compete at the Penn Relays (the oldest track meet in the US) on April 27th. Then it's back to NAIA nationals on May 22nd before the Olympic Trials at the end of June."

Coach White has been through the collegiate level as a javelin thrower himself so he has been a mentor and a guide for Friedberg over his time at Reinhardt. He has grown so much over his time at Reinhardt and much of this success is from Coach White guiding him along the way.  This paired with the God-given talents that Friedberg possesses gets you NAIA National Titles, new records, and chances to compete at the U.S. and World Track and Field Levels.

In addition to setting the new record, Friedberg was named AAC Field Athlete of the Week and was recognized nationally by the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association NAIA Athlete of the week!