Blacksburg, Va. - A small group of the Bryan College Men's Track & Field team traveled north to compete in Virginia Tech's Hokie Invitational over the weekend. The men took third in the distance medley relay and captured a new school record in the process, crossing the line at 10:05.55 inside Rector Fieldhouse. The record had stood since the 2008 Indoor season.
Bryan's lone senior and three-time All-American Bryson Harper led off with the 1200 meter leg (Sequatchie County HS, Tenn.). Harper went from 5th at 600 meters into the race to the lead when handing to freshman Christian Pineda (Dalton HS, Ga.), who was passed, but regained the lead during his 400 meter portion. Jason McLeod (Ocoee, Fla. - JR) battled with three different programs for the lead before pulling away the last 300 meters in route to a 10 meter lead heading into the anchor. Redshirt sophomore Alex Stephens (Cleveland, Tenn.) continued to lead through 800 meters, but was unable to hold off two athletes from Duke University.
"We decided to get the qualifying time for indoor nationals out of the way and Coach Cianelli of Virginia Tech was great in allowing us to race in a fantastic facility. The men surprised me a little as it's the first time they've touched the track all year. Harper ran even and put us in great position, and Pineda is going to be a special middle distance kid in the future. McLeod has never looked so good over eight hundred meters and is excited about the mile next week at Indiana. Stephens was a little excited and went out a little too quick, but held together fairly well the last six hundred meters," commented Head Coach Rodney Stoker.
The medley relay time puts the Lions at the number two spot currently in the NAIA standings and 12th across all divisions at this point early in the season.
The Bryan Track & Field squad will travel to Bloomington, Ind., next week for the Indiana Relays.
2012 Hokie Invitational Results
