WILMINGTON, NC – Graduate student Ryan Hunter and sophomore
Jazmine McDonald-Craft set new FMU school records on Saturday (March 7), as Francis Marion University track & field opened the 2026 outdoor season at the UNCW Seahawk Invitational.
The Patriots combined for 14 Conference Carolinas qualifying marks and 28 personal-best performances in the spring opener. Francis Marion returns to the track next weekend with a short trip to the Myrtle Beach Collegiate Challenge at the Doug Shaw Memorial Stadium in Myrtle Beach, S.C., on March 13-14.
Hunter posted a first-place finish and reached an NCAA qualifying mark in the javelin with a toss of 63.56 meters on his second attempt. The Blythewood, S.C., native broke his school record in the 200 meters after crossing the line in 21.81 seconds to place eighth, which also hit the league qualifying standard. Hunter also achieved a conference mark in the 100 meters and finished sixth overall with a time of 10.74 seconds.
In the women's discus, the Patriots featured three athletes who established a league qualifying mark. Sophomore
Jazmine McDonald-Craft placed third overall and broke her FMU school record with a personal-best toss of 42.41 meters. Junior
Catherine Green finished sixth with a toss of 38.73 meters, while freshman
Skyy Ruben placed 12th with a personal-best 34.84-meter mark.
Additionally in the men's javelin, freshman Blake Hamilton placed third and reached a Conference Carolinas mark with a toss of 48.61 meters on his first attempt. Sophomore Alex Lance also hit the league standard and finished fifth overall with a mark of 43.47 meters.
Freshman Jaysson Howard placed sixth overall in the men's long jump and established a conference mark with a personal-best leap of 6.65 meters.
On the women's side, sophomore
Aukeyonna Sims continued her stellar year by reaching two Conference Carolinas standards to begin the outdoor season. She placed third overall in the high jump after clearing 1.65 meters before posting a third-place finish in the long jump with a mark of 5.62 meters.
Senior
Rileigh Lacy earned a fourth-place finish in the women's pole vault and hit the conference mark after clearing 3.20 meters.
McDonald-Craft (12.37m) and Green (11.70m) also reached league marks in the women's shot put.
| UNCW SEAHAWK INVITATIONAL (MARCH 6-7) |
| Women's 100m |
| 35 |
Elanna Green * |
13.44 |
| Women's 200m |
| 44 |
Katie Sukut * |
29.40 |
| 45 |
Rileigh Lacy * |
29.58 |
| 46 |
Natalie Rose * |
29.54 |
| 50 |
Amira Page * |
32.05 |
| Women's 400m |
| 16 |
Shenell Davis * |
1:05.05 |
| Women's 4 x 400m Relay |
| 4 |
Francis Marion B |
4:36.18 |
| 5 |
Francis Marion A |
4:45.16 |
| Women's 800m |
| 22 |
Katelynn Roberts * |
2:48.76 |
| 24 |
Mia Edmundson * |
2:51.64 |
| 29 |
Addison Roberts * |
3:09.28 |
| Women's 1500m |
| 22 |
Emma Steen * |
5:50.05 |
| Women's 100m Hurdles |
| 13 |
Natalie Rose * |
16.63 |
| Women's 400m Hurdles |
| 7 |
Jordyn Perry |
1:15.17 |
| 8 |
Lyric Boykin * |
1:17.75 |
| Women's High Jump |
| 3 |
Aukeyonna Sims $ |
1.65m |
| 5 |
Katelynn Roberts |
1.45m |
| Women's Pole Vault |
| 4 |
Rileigh Lacy $ |
3.20m |
| Women's Long Jump |
| 3 |
Aukeyonna Sims $ |
5.62m |
| Women's Triple Jump |
| 8 |
Meya McKinney |
9.17m |
| Women's Shot Put |
| 4 |
Jazmine McDonald-Craft $ |
12.37m |
| 7 |
Catherine Green $ |
11.70m |
| Women's Discus |
| 3 |
Jazmine McDonald-Craft *!$ |
42.41m |
| 6 |
Catherine Green $ |
38.73m |
| 12 |
Skyy Ruben *$ |
38.84m |
| Men's 100m |
| 6 |
Ryan Hunter $ |
10.74 |
| 10 |
Jalen Keller |
10.92 |
| 26 |
Larry McCollum |
11.36 |
| Men's 200m |
| 8 |
Ryan Hunter *!$ |
21.81 |
| 25 |
Larry McCollum |
23.52 |
| Men's 400m |
| 14 |
Donnell Vereen |
56.21 |
| Men's 800m |
| 9 |
Luis Cedeno * |
2:05.08 |
| 12 |
Christian Miller * |
2:09.14 |
| 16 |
Ethan Simpson |
2:13.99 |
| 19 |
Dominic Rigoni |
2:25.62 |
| Men's 1500m |
| 28 |
Dominic Rigoni * |
4:44.41 |
| 29 |
Ethan Simpson * |
4:46.86 |
| 32 |
Justin Burgess * |
5:14.62 |
| Men's 5000m |
| 7 |
Kyle Elliott * |
18:53.20 |
| 9 |
Caleb Gary |
19:14.38 |
| 10 |
Grayson Hartson * |
19:39.15 |
| 11 |
Niclas Giessler * |
20:40.73 |
| Men's 4 x 100 Relay |
| 4 |
Francis Marion A |
42.24 |
| Men's Long Jump |
| 6 |
Jaysson Howard *$ |
6.65m |
| Men's Triple Jump |
| 4 |
Rashawn Byrd |
14.11m |
| 11 |
Justin Miller |
13.05m |
| Men's Shot Put |
| 14 |
Jordan Davis |
11.77m |
| 15 |
Donald Kegler |
10.70m |
| 16 |
Jacob Roberts * |
9.65m |
| Men's Discus |
| 10 |
Jordan Davis * |
38.84m |
| 13 |
Donald Kegler |
31.43m |
| Men's Javelin |
| 1 |
Ryan Hunter $# |
63.56m |
| 3 |
Blake Hamilton *$ |
48.61m |
| 5 |
Alex Lance *$ |
43.47m |
| 6 |
Andrew Lance |
42.92m |
* - Personal Best
! - FMU School Record
$ - Conference Carolinas Qualifying Mark
# - NCAA II Provisional Qualifying mark |
