ASHEVILLE, N.C. – To open the 2026 outdoor season, the Wofford College men's and women's track and field teams competed at the Big South vs. Southern Conference Challenge on Friday and Saturday at UNC Asheville. Wofford had numerous top ten finishes in the meet, with
Liam Jones winning the men's 800 meters and 1,500 meters,
Ava Cooper winning the women's 800 meters, and
Andrea Landrum taking first place in the women's triple jump.
On Friday,
Ellie Sawicki was fourth in the women's hammer throw at 43.00 meters and
Maggie Frana was ninth at 39.04 meters.
Colston Thomas was ninth in the men's hammer with a throw of 39.45 meters. In the women's javelin,
Gianna Ortiz was fourth at 34.44 meters and
Lilly-Francis Buffington was ninth at 23.60 meters.
Colston Thomas and
Christian Claytor were ninth and tenth respectively in the men's javelin at 34.99 meters and 33.27 meters. The 5,000 meters was the lone track event on Friday, and
Aiden Sellers was ninth for the men at 18:00.50.
In the field events on Saturday,
Ellie Sawicki was second in the discus at 40.61 meters and
Maggie Frana was fifth at 38.48 meters.
Olivia Burroughs won the women's pole vault at 3.67 meters. In the men's pole vault,
Joey Swick was second at 4.02 meters and
Christian Claytor was fifth in a personal best of 3.42 meters. Wofford placed three in the top six of the women's shot put, with
Ellie Sawicki second (12.40 meters),
Maggie Frana third (11.85 meters), and
Isabelle DuChemin sixth (11.16 meters). In the women's long jump, the Terriers had three in the top ten, led by
Olivia Bagg in third (5.67 meters),
Ava Cooper in eighth (5.28 meters), and Irena Pardo in tenth (5.07 meters). Cooper added a fifth place in the women's high jump at 1.55 meters.
Zico Bennett was fourth in the men's long jump at 6.99 meters, while in the men's triple jump
Patrick Green II was third (14.46 meters) and
Preston Kut was tenth (12.80 meters).
Andrea Landrum was first in the women's triple jump at 11.54 meters
During the track events on Saturday, the women were fourth in the 4x100 relay to start the day.
Liam Jones took first place in the 1,500 meters with a personal best time of 3:58.89 and he added a first place in the 800 meters in 1:53.17.
Isabelle DuChemin had a personal best time of 14.48 to finish third in the women's 100-meter hurdles. In the men's 100 meters,
Nigel Ransby was fourth in 10.73 and he was sixth in the 200 meters at 22.02.
Thomas Stamper added a fifth place in the men's 400 meters at 49.50 and
Colson Knott was seventh in the men's 400-meter hurdles at 1:02.53.
Ava Dennis took first place in the women's 800 meters in 2:15.56, while
Sarah Turner was fifth (1:17.75) and
Kristen Hallman was eighth (2:19.95).
Andrew York was second in the men's 2,000-meter steeplechase in 6:33.44. In the 4x400 relays to end the day, the women were fifth and the men were fourth.
The meet included Gardner-Webb, Radford, UNC Asheville, and Winthrop from the Big South, while Wofford, Western Carolina, and VMI represented the Southern Conference. The Wofford men were fourth overall with 70 points, while the women were third with 99.5 points.
The Terriers will travel to High Point on April 2 and 3 for the VertKlasse Meeting.
