Wake Forest Earns Five First Place Finishes in First Indoor Event of the Season
12/2/2023 11:39:00 PM | Track and Field
Tommy Kitchell set a new meet record for shot put at the Visit Winston-Salem College Kickoff.
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - The Wake Forest men's and women's indoor track and field teams finished an amazing day at the Visit Winston-Salem College Kickoff and Sharon Colyear-Danville Season Opener. The Deacs racked up five golds, seven silvers and four bronzes.
Emma Douglass, Paul Specht, Amanda Schaare, Tommy Kitchell and Robbie Grace took home the gold for the Deacs on Saturday. With a 15.26m shot put, Schaare landed with the 5th best indoor shot put in Wake Forest history.
Grace ended the day with the 6th spot on the Wake Forest all-time indoor long jump list with a 5.89m long jump. Kitchell broke a Visit Winston-Salem College Kickoff record and fell 2nd behind himself on the all-time indoor shot put list with a 19.31m throw.
Anna Bush ran a 8.67 60m hurdle for a second place finish and the fourth spot all-time for indoor 60m hurdles at Wake Forest. During the qualifying round, Bush ran a 8.76 60m hurdle for a third place finish and the 6th spot for all-time indoor 60m hurdles.
Katrina Andreassen launched a 18.23m weight throw in Winston-Salem. Andreassen finished third in the event and added her name to the second spot in all-time indoor weight throws.
With her performance today, Sophie Perez Gonzalez is fourth on the Wake Forest all-time indoor weight throw performances list. Gonzalez finished fourth in the event and fourth on the all-time list with a 17.80m throw.
Along with Andreassen and Gonzalez, Isabella Gera put her name on the Wake Forest all-time indoor weight throw list. With a 17.69m throw, Gera finished fifth during the event along with holding the fifth spot on the all-time list.
Brooke Wilson set a top-3 mark in the 5000m on Saturday in Boston. Wilson notched the 3rd spot for the Wake Forest all-time 5000m running a 15:59.35.
Joe O'Brien notched a spot in the Wake Forest all-time indoor 5000m performances list. O'Brien finished with a 13:51.24 time and is second all-time in the indoor 5000m. Along with O'Brien, three over 5000m runners added their names to the list. Weber Long ran a 14:05.91 at fifth all-time, Gavin Ehlers ran a 14:16.22 at seventh all-time and Hunter Jones ran a 14:19.09 and is tenth all-time.
Notable Finishes
Women's 60m Hurdles
Women's 3000m
Men's 3000m
Visit Winston-Salem College Kickoff
Sharon Colyear-Danville Season Opener
Women's 400m
Women's 1 Mile
Men's 1 Mile
Women's 5000m
Men's 5000m
Women's Shot Put
Men's Shot Put
Women's Long Jump
Men's Weight Throw
Women's High Jump
Women's Weight Throw
From the Staff
"Today we had a split squad. Many of the distance athletes were in Boston while most of our track team was at JDL. These meets give us a great idea where we are as a team heading into winter break. We had some really good performances in all of the areas. My assistant coaches and the student-athletes have done a great job preparing throughout the fall. Now it's critical that speed/power athletes don't take their foot off of the gas pedal. The indoor season is very short. When we return we only have 5 weeks until the ACC Championships and 7 weeks until the NCAA Championships. Overall, today was a really promising start to the season." - director of track & field and cross country John Hayes
"We had some really strong performances in Boston and Winston-Salem today. We also learned some valuable lessons from races that didn't go as well. The effort and fight was there across the board, we just made a few tactical errors we can improve on moving forward. Every race is an opportunity to learn and get better. I'm excited for the rest of the season after some down time." - associate head coach Ashley Bastron
"Today was a great start to the indoor season. We had several PBs and even a meet record. I'm looking forward to seeing how things look in 6 weeks when we come back from the holiday break." - associate head coach Collin Post
"Today was highlighted by some strong performances by Joe and Charlie. It was great to see them both set new personal records after a strong cross country season of building fitness." - assistant coach Brandon Hazouri
"This meet was a great opportunity for everyone to showcase all of the hard work from fall training. Altogether, there were many strong performances and we are excited for the 2024 season ahead." - assistant coach Ryan Grinnell
Up Next
The Deacs will compete in the Virginia Tech Invitational from January 12-13 in Blacksburg, Virginia.
Follow The Demon Deacons
Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | #GoDeacs
Emma Douglass, Paul Specht, Amanda Schaare, Tommy Kitchell and Robbie Grace took home the gold for the Deacs on Saturday. With a 15.26m shot put, Schaare landed with the 5th best indoor shot put in Wake Forest history.
Grace ended the day with the 6th spot on the Wake Forest all-time indoor long jump list with a 5.89m long jump. Kitchell broke a Visit Winston-Salem College Kickoff record and fell 2nd behind himself on the all-time indoor shot put list with a 19.31m throw.
Anna Bush ran a 8.67 60m hurdle for a second place finish and the fourth spot all-time for indoor 60m hurdles at Wake Forest. During the qualifying round, Bush ran a 8.76 60m hurdle for a third place finish and the 6th spot for all-time indoor 60m hurdles.
Katrina Andreassen launched a 18.23m weight throw in Winston-Salem. Andreassen finished third in the event and added her name to the second spot in all-time indoor weight throws.
With her performance today, Sophie Perez Gonzalez is fourth on the Wake Forest all-time indoor weight throw performances list. Gonzalez finished fourth in the event and fourth on the all-time list with a 17.80m throw.
Along with Andreassen and Gonzalez, Isabella Gera put her name on the Wake Forest all-time indoor weight throw list. With a 17.69m throw, Gera finished fifth during the event along with holding the fifth spot on the all-time list.
Brooke Wilson set a top-3 mark in the 5000m on Saturday in Boston. Wilson notched the 3rd spot for the Wake Forest all-time 5000m running a 15:59.35.
Joe O'Brien notched a spot in the Wake Forest all-time indoor 5000m performances list. O'Brien finished with a 13:51.24 time and is second all-time in the indoor 5000m. Along with O'Brien, three over 5000m runners added their names to the list. Weber Long ran a 14:05.91 at fifth all-time, Gavin Ehlers ran a 14:16.22 at seventh all-time and Hunter Jones ran a 14:19.09 and is tenth all-time.
Notable Finishes
Women's 60m Hurdles
- 3) Anna Bush, 8.76Q, 8.67
- 4) Addison Berry, 8.80Q, 8.86
Women's 3000m
- 2) Mackenzie Hart, 10:24.78
Men's 3000m
Visit Winston-Salem College Kickoff
- 5) Pedro Bravo, 8:39.85
Sharon Colyear-Danville Season Opener
- Bryce Gilmore, 8:09.62
Women's 400m
- 2) Gabby Johnson, 58.11
Women's 1 Mile
- 1) Emma Douglass, 4:46.10
- 4) Grace Wassell, 5:04.07
Men's 1 Mile
- 1) Paul Specht, 4:11.90
- 2) Jack Balick, 4:12.93
- 4) Dillion Aryah, 4:17.02
- 5) Jackson Keefer, 4:17.08
- 6) Vince Mwangi, 4:25.49
Women's 5000m
- 50) Brooke Wilson, 15:59.35
Men's 5000m
- 56) Joseph O'Brien, 13:51.24
- 78) Charlie Sprott, 13:56.18
- 112) Weber Long, 14:05.91
- 146) Gavin Ehlers, 14:16.22
- 151) Hunter Jones, 14:19.09
Women's Shot Put
- 1) Amanda Schaare, 15.26m
- 2) Ashlyn Giles, 15.10m
- 3) Casey Sullivan, 14.73m
- 7) Isabella Gera 13.31m
Men's Shot Put
- 1) Thomas Kitchell, 19.31m
- 4) Connor Mathis, 15.52m
Women's Long Jump
- 1) Robbie Grace, 5.89m
- 2) Anna Bush, 5.74m
- 7) Addison Berry, 5.47m
Men's Weight Throw
- 2) Thomas Kitchell, 19.65m
- 4) Jake Goldberg, 17.91m
Women's High Jump
- 4) Meghan O'Malley, 1.64m
Women's Weight Throw
- 3) Katrina Andreassen, 18.23m
- 4) Sophie Perez Gonzalez, 17.80m
- 5. Isabella Gera, 17.69m
From the Staff
"Today we had a split squad. Many of the distance athletes were in Boston while most of our track team was at JDL. These meets give us a great idea where we are as a team heading into winter break. We had some really good performances in all of the areas. My assistant coaches and the student-athletes have done a great job preparing throughout the fall. Now it's critical that speed/power athletes don't take their foot off of the gas pedal. The indoor season is very short. When we return we only have 5 weeks until the ACC Championships and 7 weeks until the NCAA Championships. Overall, today was a really promising start to the season." - director of track & field and cross country John Hayes
"We had some really strong performances in Boston and Winston-Salem today. We also learned some valuable lessons from races that didn't go as well. The effort and fight was there across the board, we just made a few tactical errors we can improve on moving forward. Every race is an opportunity to learn and get better. I'm excited for the rest of the season after some down time." - associate head coach Ashley Bastron
"Today was a great start to the indoor season. We had several PBs and even a meet record. I'm looking forward to seeing how things look in 6 weeks when we come back from the holiday break." - associate head coach Collin Post
"Today was highlighted by some strong performances by Joe and Charlie. It was great to see them both set new personal records after a strong cross country season of building fitness." - assistant coach Brandon Hazouri
"This meet was a great opportunity for everyone to showcase all of the hard work from fall training. Altogether, there were many strong performances and we are excited for the 2024 season ahead." - assistant coach Ryan Grinnell
Up Next
The Deacs will compete in the Virginia Tech Invitational from January 12-13 in Blacksburg, Virginia.
Follow The Demon Deacons
Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | #GoDeacs
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