3/20/10 Charlotte, NC- Only six days removed from the cold and wet weather they found in Banner Elk, the Montreat College track and field teams traveled to Charlotte, NC to compete in beautiful, sunny 70° weather at the UNC-Charlotte 49ers Classic meet, a two day affair where over 30 colleges and universities from the NAIA and every level of the NCAA were represented.

On Friday afternoon, William Parker (Fr/Rome, NY) started off the Cavaliers weekend by jumping 5.21 meters (17'1.25") in the long jump, good for 10^th place in his flight and 37^th place overall. In the mens' 400 meter preliminary heats, Noah Hall (Fr/Columbus, NC) clocked a 59.63 for 6^th place in his heat, though he did not advance to the final. Elyse Gildernew (So/Lookout Mtn., Ga) finished in 9^th place in her heat of the womens' 1500 meter race in 5:47.83 in her first outdoor race since 2008.

As the sun set over the track, the Cavalier men prepared for the 5000 meter race "under the lights". Ben Hall (Jr/Columbus, NC) was forced to scratch from the event after an injury to his illiotibial band flared up in his knee. In the first heat, Wilbourn Kosgei (Sr/Kapsabet, Kenya) ran much of the race with the lead pack, but 3 kilometers into the race he was accidentally spiked by another runner and faded to 24^th place in his heat (25^th overall) in 15:25.64-only 11 seconds off of the NAIA Outdoor Track and Field Nationals "B" Standard. Will Musto (So/Rocky Face, GA) and Jared Nielsen (So/Charlotte, NC) both set personal bests (PBs) in their heat of the 5000 meter race. Musto had a breakthrough race of sorts, wherein he ran a 36-second PB (16:52.27), good for 8^th place in the heat (62^nd overall) while Nielsen, who has been plagued by injuries for several months, still battled through in front of his hometown crowd for a 10 second PB (17:26.29), good for 15^th place in the heat (70^th overall) in what was also his season debut of the event.

On Saturday, the second day of the event, William Parker again started off the Cavaliers, this time with a 12^th place finish in the mens' high jump. Parker jumped a school-record 1.80 meters (5'10.75").

On the track, Noah Hall doubled back from Friday's 400m preliminaries to make his career debut in the grueling 3000 meters steeplechase, where he ran 11:20.39 and finished in 15^th place. Elyse Gildernew, doubling back herself from Friday's 1500 meter "metric mile," competed in the womens' 800 meter race where she finished in 7^th place in her heat (54^th overall) in 2:42.40, the fastest time she has clocked in college.