The Lipscomb track and field team finished with strong performances across the board at the Commodore Invitational in Nashville Friday, January 14 and Saturday, January 15.
A rare local meet for Lipscomb allowed for fans of the Purple and Gold to attend and cheer the Bisons on to one of their best performances thus far in the still-young spring season.
“This weekend was my first local competition and I really enjoyed it,” Aislinn McElhaney, a long jumper from Sevierville, Tennessee, said in a statement.
“The biggest advantage to having a competition so close was not having to travel hours away on a bus,” McElhaney said. “Sitting on a bus for a long time can make it harder to get loose and ready to compete, so I was thankful to not have to worry about that this weekend.”
The junior responded to her competitive advantage by setting a Lipscomb program record in the women’s long jump for the third time in her career, finishing 6th in the event with a 5.73-meter distance.
“The feeling is the same every time I jump,” McElhaney said. “Broken record or not, I am just thankful for the opportunity to compete in the event that I have grown to love over the past few years.”
“Long jump brings me so much joy and I give God all of the glory for my success in this event,” McElhaney said.
In the high jump category, freshman Bella Jackson put together a 4th-place performance with a jump measuring 1.75 meters. Hailing from the Indianapolis suburb of Whiteland, Indiana, Jackson also broke her own record for a personal best.
Junior Fransizka Decker earned a 12-meter distance in shot put, good for 11th in the event and the second-best shot put distance in program history. Decker, a communications major from Saffig, Germany, also notched a top-15 finish in the 60-meter hurdles preliminary.
In the running events, Lipscomb was equally successful. Freshman Abigail Alvarado, senior Hanna Anderson, senior transfer Kendall Long, and Kiara Carter combined to set the best 400-meter relay time at Lipscomb since 2013. The four sprinters finished 1st in their heat and took home 5th place overall.
Carter paced the Bisons in the individual 400-meter run, finishing 7th with a 58.46-second time.
In the mile run, distance specialist Allena Klammorick led the Bisons as a freshman, finishing 11th with a 5-minute, 43.97-second time. McDonough, Georgia-born senior Madison Allie placed sixth to pace the Bisons in the 3000-meter event and junior Maddie Moody finished 9th.
In the men’s running events, Lipscomb found their best success across the weekend. Jonathan Imes, a highly-decorated senior with multiple ASUN titles, added to his accolades with a 1st-place finish in the 400-meter race and a 3rd-place finish in the 200-meter.
“I am genuinely happy with my performance from this weekend,” Imes said in a statement. “With it being the first meet back after winter break, I knew there might be some rust, but I have been working hard and was ready to be competitive.”
“Even with this great performance, I am still looking to improve on these times and push to be better,” the Germantown, Maryland-born graduate student said. “I think that goes for the whole team; everyone really showed up and put down great times.”
“I am blessed with amazing teammates who have consistently pushed me and that has shown not only at this meet but throughout my time at Lipscomb,” Imes said.
Sprinter Ahmed Amaar earned a pair of top-5 finishes, grabbing 5th in both the 60-meter dash and the 200-meter run.
Rounding out the short-distance events on the men’s side was a strong showing across the weekend from Malik Baker. The junior from Antioch finished 6th in the 60-meter hurdles final after finishing 7th in the preliminary.
Denver, North Carolina-born junior Brian Risse led the Bisons with a 6th-place showing in the one-mile run, while senior Benjamin Ruffing and ASUN Freshman of the Year Ben Butcher finished 5th and 12th in the 3000-meter event, respectively.
The men’s and women’s track and field teams travel to Bloomington, Indiana next for the Gladstein Invitational on January 21 and 22.