By: by Emily Diekelmann
Complete Meet Results
AUBURN, Ala. - Closing out their final meet before conference, the Kennesaw State men’s track and field team had a solid showing at the Auburn Tiger Track Classic, Friday and Saturday. Competing against teams from Duke, Georgia Tech, Alabama and host Auburn, the squad was able to use this meet to get ready for the competitive Atlantic Sun Conference Outdoor Championship.
Once again the duo of Jaakko Nieminen and Piotr Witczak set two new school records on Saturday. Two weeks ago at the Georgia Intercollegiate Invitational, both runners set marks in the 1,500 and 3,000, respectively. Witczak set the new mark with a 3:50.51 run in the 1,500. In the 3,000 meters, Nieminen broke the school best with an 8:23.96 finishing time.
Getting his fastest time of the outdoor season, Gianni Catalano nabbed the only men’s first place finish of the weekend in the 800 meter race. His time of 1:52.24 gave him a three tenth victory over the second place runner from Southern Miss.
Kendall Parks once again had another stellar outing in the 110 meter hurdles. After two straight first place finishes in the event, Parks kept himself in the top three with a second place finish in 14.10 seconds. That ties his currently held school record in the 110 meters. Racing in the 4x1 with teammates Parks, Antonio Logan, Jemir Martinez and Anjoun Armaly finished fourth in a time of 41.14.
Martinez and Logan got the chance to race in another event during the weekend. The duo came in seventh and eighth in the 200 meter dash, respectively. Martinez finished in 21.75 seconds with Logan not far behind in 21.85.
Competing in only his second meet of the season, Jerome McKinzie continued his excellence from last season in the high jump over the weekend. His season best 2.07 meter leap was good enough for sixth place.
The team gets a little bit of a break not having competition next weekend. They will resume at the A-Sun Outdoor Conference Championships in Deland, Fla. at the University of North Florida on April 15-16.
