Mt. Berry, GA—The Piedmont Lions men's and women's track and field team traveled to Berry College for one last meet before Conference in just ten days. 

The Berry Field Day and Multi-meet kicked off on Thursday with two of our own lions competing in the heptathlon. 

Sara Bjerke and Brooke Benna took on the heptathlon, as it has not been completed by anyone in Piedmont history except for Cortney Brown in 2024. They will go down as the second and third lions in Piedmont history to compete in the heptathlon. Brooke Benna placed fourth overall with 1924 points, which puts her second all-time in the record books. Sara Bjerke finished with 1204 points, putting her third. 

As far as the rest of the meet is concerned, several school and personal records fall yet again with many top-10 performances. Bella Caccamo beats her previous personal best in the 800m, breaking her own record by nearly 2 seconds and finishing third overall with a time of 2:18.94. 

The records don't stop there either, as Caccamo helped Michelle Cates, Allison Cantrell, and Naomi Oti-Wapala break the women's 4 x 400 m relay record. This relay team crossed the line at 4:11.39, beating the previous record by .2 of a second and placing fourth overall.

Day one on the field, George Ketch led the lions with his fourth-place mark of 48.62m, followed by Matthew Blocksom in ninth, throwing a mark of 45.11m. Brayden Saxon took home a new personal best of 26.68m.
In triple jump, Allison Cantrell set a new personal best for herself with a jump of 9.74m. Franklin Brown Jr. placed seventh overall on the men's side with a jump of 13.04m.

Day one on the track, both seniors Michelle Cates and Bella Caccamo finished with new personal bests and placed in the top 10 in the 400m hurdles. Cates placed fourth overall, running a time of 1:07.94, and Caccamo placed ninth overall, crossing the line at 1:09.95. Freshmen Katie Payne and London Jackson made their debut in the hurdles, with Jackson running 1:21.88 and Payne 1:23.72.
In the men's 1500m, Xander Wiley ran a new personal best of 4:45.26.

Brody Geckler sets another new person best in the men's 5000m late Friday night, running a 16:13.56. Josalyn Hallman and Emily Hillesheim gave the women's 5000m a go also. Hillesheim ran 23:39.26 and Hallman 24:56.94.

Day two on the field, Jayden Smith placed fifth overall in men's shot put, throwing 13.56 m. 

In long jump, Bryant Murray placed ninth overall, jumping 6.42 m, while Nehemiah took home a new personal best with a jump of 5.79 m. Allison Cantrell posted a fifth-place mark of 5.09 m on the women's side.

For men's javelin throw, Walter Burks led the lions with his ninth-place mark of 42.26 m. This is also Burks' new personal best in the javelin.

In high jump, Bella Caccamo took home yet another new personal best with a height of 1.37m and placed eighth overall. All three men took home new personal bests as well. Bryant Murray had a seventh-place jump of 1.77 m, while Franklin Brown Jr. made a height of 1.72 m, placing tenth overall. Nehemiah Franklin set a new personal best of 1.67m.

Lastly, in the men's discus, Matthew Blocksom led the lions with his eighth-place mark of 41.92 m. Brayden Saxon had yet another new personal best throw of 24.94m.

At the track for day two, there were several top-10 finishes. Starting the day off with women's 100 hurdles, Michelle Cates crossed the line sixth at 16.74 and Brianna Tucci tenth at 17.75. For men's 110m hurdles, Silas Goolsby placed fourth, finishing with a time of 15.66.

In the women's 800m, Hayden Linn brought in a new personal best of 3:05.82.

For the men's 200m, Silas Goolsby snagged second place with a time of 21.38. Tyler Brown and Franklin Brown Jr. set new personal bests, with Brown running 22.89 and Brown Jr. 23.18.

Both 4x400 relay teams ran a great race, finishing top-5. The women finished fourth with their new set school record. The men's relay made of Silas Goolsby, Tyler Brown, Daeon Neal, and Shaqir Riggins placed third overall with a time of 3:27.26.

These Lions are not done yet, with the conference nearing in just a little over a week. The CCS Championships will take place in Belhaven, Mississippi, on April 21-22

Heptathlon Results –