High Point University track and field team hosted the ninth annual VertKlasse Meeting on March 31 and April 1 at Vert Stadium. The annual meeting hosts nearly 1,600 competing athletes from over 40 schools, making it the single largest sporting event hosted on campus.
The meeting is named after Dr. Richard Vert, who is the immediate past chairman of HPU’s Board of Trustees.
For the women’s team, sophomore Keaton Case led the team winning the 1,500 meters, defeating Virginia Tech’s Mikayla Richardson by 0.77 seconds. Case also captured the 800 meters. Senior Cozette Collin was 19th overall.
Also for the women’s team, junior Makenzi Holmes-DiGiovine posted a fourth place finish with a season best throw of 45.69 meter. Redshirt senior Jamie Schnuck placed seventh in the hammer throw with a heave of 53.02 meters. Freshman Kanaizae Brown finished ninth in the 100 meters, making her HPU outdoor debut. Sophomore Emmy Geis was 12th in the 400 meter hurdles, while freshman Ariel Wilbeken was 13th in the triple jump with a leap of 11.16 meters. In the final event of the meet, the 4×400 meter relay team of Geis, junior CeAnna Soper, sophomore Jasmyn Gillespie and Case placed sixth.
The men’s team also performed well at this meeting. Freshman Pablo Romero Gonzales placed seventh in the high jump clearing a height of 1.89 meters. Junior James House finished eighth in the 100 meters and 15th overall in the 200 meters. Sophomore Alejandro Juan Torres and senior Vinny Todaro placed eighth and No. 18 respectively. Freshman Carter Clasper cleared a height of 4.62 meters in the pole vault to finish ninth.
In the discus, sophomore Britton Mann finished 11th with a throw of 44.4 meters. In the 4×400 relay team junior Sean Banda, freshman Sam Thomas, sophomore Brad Kanney and James House finished ninth.
A select group of Panther student-athletes look forward to competing at the Liberty Collegiate Invitational April 7-8 in Lynchburg, Virginia.
