Friday, January 15, 2010

BLACKSBURG, Va. (Jan. 15, 2010) - Facing strong competition in Blacksburg, senior Jordan Briggs (Erwin, Tenn.) stepped up and came away with a new school record in the pole vault on Friday night at the 2010 Virginia Tech Invitational inside Rector Field House.

Briggs, who was coming off a solid outdoor campaign as a junior, broke Drew Beamer's record in the event, after finishing third with a mark of 15-03 (4.65m). Beamer previously held the record after setting a mark of 15-01 in 2007.

"I was really proud of Jordan's effort tonight," commented assistant coach Eli Sunquist. "Jordan has been working hard all preseason and to come through with a record-breaking mark tonight against a tough field says a lot about his character."

Meanwhile, on the track, senior Duronal Monal (Belle Glade, Fla.) recorded a top three finish in the finals of the 60m dash. After advancing to the finals with a fourth-place finish in prelims (6.79), Monal cut some time off that effort and placed third behind North Carolina A&T's Calesio Newman (6.70) and North Carolina State's A'Tolani Akinkuotu (6.72). The Belle Glade, Fla. posted a time of 6.77 in the finals.

Also on the track, junior Mike James (Palm Bay, Fla.) qualified for the finals in the 60m hurdles on Friday night. James clocked the sixth fastest time in the prelims (8.09) and placed fourth in the finals with a mark of 7.98 in the event.

Back in the field events, a pair of freshmen came away with respectable performances in the triple jump.

Fresh off claiming Atlantic Sun Athlete of the Week honors on Thursday night, Ryan Beaver (Virginia Beach, Va.) turned in a top-10 showing in the triple jump (47-03). In addition, Bethany Lender (Altoona, Pa.) also claimed her first-ever weekly honor on Thursday and posted a leap of 38-07 (11.76m) to finish 11th in the triple jump on Friday night.

The Buccaneers wrap up day two at the Virginia Tech on Saturday morning, beginning with the men's high jump finals at 11 a.m.

For a full recap of events and results, visit www.ETSUBucs.com.