COLUMBIA, S.C. — The Columbia International University men's track & field team competed at home Friday and Saturday at the John-Hunter Classic, a meet held in honor of the legacy and memory of two-time CIU NAIA pole vault national champion John-Hunter James.
Dallas Turner highlighted the meet for the Rams with a first-place finish in the high jump, clearing 1.90 meters.
On the track, Spencer Evans delivered a strong performance in the 800 meters, winning the event in 2:04.67. Zyon Black added a third-place finish in the 400-meter hurdles (1:04.59), while Mark Zagata recorded a time of 52.16 in the 400 meters. DeVarius Ponds posted a time of 11.29 in the 100 meters.
In the distance events, Jacobo Garcia-Rivera led CIU with a third-place finish in the 1500 meters (4:24.14), followed closely by Joey Canning in fourth (4:25.96).
The Rams also turned in strong performances in the field events, highlighted by multiple record-breaking efforts. Cameron Montgomery set a new program record in the hammer throw with a mark of 51.37 meters while also winning the shot put at 16.01 meters. Dante Shuler placed third in the hammer (47.69m) and fifth in the shot put (12.35m), while Bryce Scarborough recorded a throw of 31.55m in the discus and 39.27m in the hammer. Casey Feaster added a mark of 10.08m in the shot put and 36.44m in the hammer, and Caius Johns posted a throw of 36.35m in the discus and 32.83m in the hammer.
Jeremy Daniels recorded a throw of 43.52m in the javelin, while Mark Zagata added a mark of 38.18m in the same event.
In the jumps, Elijah Seawright delivered a record-breaking performance in the triple jump, winning the event with a mark of 14.75 meters to set a new CIU program record. Donavan Latimer followed with a fourth-place finish at 14.16 meters.
CIU also saw success in the pole vault, where Hunter McCaskill placed second with a clearance of 3.89 meters and Nicholas Ortiz finished third at 3.74 meters.
The Rams competed in both relays, finishing second in the 4x100 relay with a time of 42.58 behind a lineup of Ponds, Latimer, Turner, and James Mayo. CIU also placed second in the 4x400 relay in 3:29.78 with Mark Zagata, Latimer, Turner, and Mayo competing.
CIU returns to action Mar. 26–28 at Emory's Thrills in the Hills in DeKalb County, Ga.
