Reinhardt Makes Leap into Track & Field

Reinhardt University's Department of Athletics took another large step last Sunday as the department's Track & Field programs took to the track for the first time at the Emory CrossPlex Invitational in Birmingham, Ala. While the teams competed at the Appalachian Athletic Conference Championships last year, the Emory CrossPlex was the first meet that Reinhardt could receive points as a team and athletes could officially win individual and team events.

Eight men and three women competed in the inaugural meet for RU. Many of the athletes competing for RU in track & field also play other sports at the school. Such is the case for sophomore L.J. Stegall. Usually lining up as a B-Back for the football team, Stegall ran for the first time in the 60-meter sprint. His preliminary time of 6.96 qualified him for the finals and also was .01 second behind the NAIA "B" indoor standard mark. Stegall would place 10th in the final with a 7.06.

Also competing for RU's men's track & field team was Nick Johnson, a defensive back on the RU football squad. Johnson and Stegall both competed in the triple jump. The two earned the first points for RU as a track & field program, with Johnson jumping 13.05 meters and Stegall landing at 13.00 meters exactly.

Alex Garcia from the RU cross country squad raced in the mile and finished in 4:53.78, which was two seconds better than his outdoor time in the AAC Championships last year. Nick Zvirbulis won his heat in the 400m dash with a time of 55.03, but did not qualify for the fnial round.

Jabari Nelson and D.J. Sellers also competed in the meet for the Eagles. Both ran a 7.45 in the 60m dash.

On the women's side, Sam Croce normally does her jumping in the gym for the RU volleyball squad, but found herself on the indoor track in the triple jump. Competing for the first time since high school, the junior hit a mark of 30'7" for a 17th place finish.

Cameron Hawkins was quite possibly the busiest competitor for Reinhardt. Hawkins ran a 29.57 in the 200m dash, a 2:41 in the 800m run, and leapt a distance of 14'10.5" in the long jump, which are all good early-season marks according to track & field coach Jordan Turner.

Ansley Avera, running in her first-ever track meet, raced in the 400m dash, finishing in 1:11.04.

Reinhardt will participate in one more indoor meet this season, at the Sewanee Invitational in Sewanee, Tenn. coming up Feb. 28.