Record-Setting Performances In Stellar Day For Track & Field Saturday

With contingents competing in four separate meets in both the United States and Australia, the University of North Carolina indoor track and field and cross country teams posted strong performances across the board on Saturday, highlighted by record-breaking finishes.
 
The Tar Heels sent groups to compete at the JDL DMR Invitational in Winton-Salem, N.C., the Virginia Tech Invitational in Blacksburg, Va., and the Alex Wilson Invitational in Notre Dame, Ind., in the USA. And freshman cross country/distance runner Eva Klingbeil finished 29th at the U20 World Cross Country Championships in Australia.
 
At the Alex Wilson Invitational, Carolina’s men’s 4000m distance relay team of Jesse Hunt, Jared Williams, Kyle Reinheimer and Ethan Strand set a program and ACC record and tied for first place with Wisconsin in a time of 9:19.99. Carolina won the first heat and Wisconsin won the second in the same time, leading to the first-place tie. That time is tied for third in the NCAA so far this season. The Tar Heels are tied for the fourth-fastest program in the nation in the event indoors this season (all conditions, tracks and sizes). 
 
Tar Heel splits were as follows: Hunt, 2:52.3 (1200); Williams, 47.2 (400); Reinheimer, 1:47.2 (800); and Strand, 3:53.2 (1600).
 
Meanwhile, at the 2023 World Athletics Cross Country Championships in Bathurst, Australia, Tar Heel freshman Klingbeil finished 29th overall and fifth among Americans in the U20 race in a time of 23:29. For the first time ever, the United States won a bronze medal as a team, finishing third behind first-place Ethiopia and silver medalist Kenya. Scoring 54 points, the American women won their first medal of any kind in the U20 6km race, placing four runners across the finish line in the top 20 with Klingbeil finishing 29th.
 
At the Virginia Tech Challenge in Blacksburg, Spencer Williams’ shot put of 17.43m (52-7 ¼) set a personal best and moved him into ninth in the Atlantic Coast Conference overall (and best by a true freshman) in the event this season.
 
In Winston-Salem, N.C., at the JDL DMR Invitational, Tar Heels swept the men’s and women’s mile with a pair of personal-best finishes. On the women’s side, sophomore Sydney Masciarelli won in a personal-record time of 4:50.27. Sarah Trainor (third place in 4:52.46) and Madison Huecker (fifth in 5:01.02) gave…