Liberty University
Sykes-Sabock Challenge Cup
Atkinson, Dodson Shine in Sykes-Sabock Hurdles
2/3/2017 12:00:00 AM | Track and Field
Liberty freshmen Jovaine Atkinson and Katie Dodson each performed well in the 60 hurdles on the opening day of the Sykes-Sabock Challenge Cup, Friday evening at Penn State's Horace Ashenfelter III Indoor Track. Atkinson placed a close second in the men's 60 hurdles final, while Dodson's breakthrough performance netted third place in the women's 60 hurdles final.
Through Friday's five men's events, Liberty ranks third of five teams with 32 points. No. 21 Penn State leads the way with 66 points, putting the Nittany Lions 19 tallies in front of second-place UMBC (47).
On the women's side, Liberty has totaled 29.5 points through seven events, good for fourth place out of seven squads. James Madison currently leads No. 19 Penn State, 63-54, atop the women's team standings.
Men's Day One Recap
After posting the top qualifying time of 8.16 during prelims, Atkinson clocked a mark of 8.18 in the men's 60 hurdles final. That left him just 0.01 behind event champion Jamal Cody of UMBC.
Ryan Davis followed in third place with a season-best 8.38 effort, while Markus Ballengee came in fifth at 8.47.
Defending Sykes-Sabock Challenge Cup men's long jump champion Darrel Jones took third place in the event on Friday at 22-6.5. Freshmen Brad Smalley (fifth place, 21-5.25) and Ballengee (seventh place, 20-4.25) added points in the event.
Smalley, making his debut in a Liberty uniform, also took fifth place in the men's 60 dash final with a time of 7.11 seconds.
Women's Day One Recap
Entering the day with a season-best 60 hurdles time of 9.05, Dodson improved to 9.02 in the prelims and then 8.90 in the final to capture third place. The Pennsylvania native now ranks No. 9 in program history for the event through three meets of her freshman season.
Kylie Polsgrove came in seventh in the women's 60 hurdles final at 9.25, following a season-best time of 9.18 in the prelims.
Janae Jones long jumped an indoor personal-best 18-6 for third place in the event, making her the No. 10 performer in Liberty history. Dana Mercer reached 18-0.5 to finish sixth.
Mercer also competed in the 60 dash on Friday, coming in eighth in the final (7.84) after sprinting to a season-best time of 7.76 in the heats. Reigning Big South Women's Indoor Track Athlete of the Week Tanner Ealum clocked a personal-best 7.87 in her preliminary heat.
Jessie Glynn (fifth, 12-2.75), Audrey Rabe (seventh, season-best 11-9) and Mariel Finger (tie for eighth, 11-9) all scored points in the women's pole vault. Glynn, Finger and Rabe now rank 1-2-3 on the Big South women's pole vault list this season.
Dasiana Larson came in fifth in the women's weight throw, reaching 56-0 on her best attempt of the day.
Terrill Zentmeyer's indoor personal-best 5K time of 18:19.86 placed the redshirt junior eighth in the event.
Up Next
Saturday's slate of events at the Sykes-Sabock Challenge Cup will get started at 11 a.m. with the men's pole vault and men's shot put. Running events will begin with the men's mile at 12:20 p.m.
