Four members of the East Tennessee State University (ETSU) track and field team will participate in the Wake Forest Invitational, scheduled for April 16-17 at Kentner Stadium in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. The announcement was made on Apr. 15.
The event is significant as most of the ETSU track and field teams are not competing this week, focusing instead on preparations for upcoming meets in Cullowhee. The four selected athletes will represent ETSU across multiple events at the invitational.
For the men’s squad, one athlete will enter the 800-meter run. He currently holds fourth place in the Southern Conference (SoCon) with a best time of 1:51.22, which is less than four seconds behind the conference’s top mark.
On the women’s side, another athlete will compete in the 800-meter run where she ranks eighth in SoCon with a best time of 2:14.79 entering this week’s competition. A third participant is set to race in the 3000-meter steeplechase; she currently stands third in SoCon for that event with a time of 10:44.52 and ranks forty-third overall in the NCAA East Region—making her a potential qualifier for NCAA regionals as only those ranked within the top forty-eight are eligible.
The fourth competitor plans to run both the 400-meter and 200-meter sprints on Friday and aims to regain leading positions within SoCon standings for these races. She presently ranks second in both events—with times just fractions behind current leaders—and leads SoCon outright in the 100 meters after recording an impressive mark earlier this month.
Following this invitational meet, ETSU’s full track and field squad is scheduled to return next weekend at Cullowhee’s Catamount Classic before heading into their final regular season contest—the Southern Conference Outdoor Championships.
