For immediate release – 3/29/2011 - #309

Outdoor Track and Field Successful in Richmond; Women Set New 4x400 Record

Richmond, VA – The Lynchburg College Outdoor Track and Field Team competed this weekend at the Richmond Invitational, hosted by the University of Richmond.

James Bell (Huddleston, VA/Staunton River) reached provisional qualifying height in the pole vault with a mark of 15' 9", while Gregory Wilson (Sagamore Beach, MA/Bishop Stang) recorded a personal best in the shot put with a throw of 45' 11.75".  John Michael Pavia (Forest, VA/Jefferson Forest) came just shy of the NCAA provisional mark with a personal best of 171' 7" in the hammer throw.  Nolan Compton (Manassas, VA/Osbourn Park) passed his top personal mark with a time of 4:03.23 in the 1500m.  Finally, Evan Ellison (Atlanta, GA/McCallie) ran a season best 50.18 in the 400m.

The women's team set a new school record with a come-from-behind win in the 4x400m relay.  The time of 3:56.27 was set by runners Jasmyne Johnson (Louisa, VA/Louisa County), Jessica Gibbs (Lancaster, PA/Penn Manor), Mel McFayden (Ipswich, MA/Ipswich), and Christina Washington (Silver Spring, MD/Springbrook). In addition to the new school record, several individual athletes had standout performances. Caitlin Walton (Richmond, VA/Mills E. Godwin) impressed her hometown crowd with a jump of 10' in the pole vault.  Christina Washington ran a 58.97 in the 400m to go with her record-breaking performance in the relay.  Senior distance juggernaut Jennie Pernisi (Camden, NY/Altmar-Parish-Williamstown) also ran a 4:58.11 in the 1500m.

In addition, graduate assistant coach Ricky Flynn ran an outstanding 13:59.42 in the 5k run at the Raleigh Relays in Raleigh, NC.  This tops his personal best by an amazing 26 seconds. 

 Lynchburg's next action will be Friday, April 1 when they compete in the Liberty University Multi in Lynchburg, VA.