Kammler, Little, Boggs, French lead SSU men at Charlotte 49er Classic
The men's track and field program at Shawnee State again got excellent efforts in its distance events, as Shawnee State senior harriers Aiden Kammler and Dylan French put up very strong efforts in the men's 1,500 meter run while Logan Boggs and Shawn Little added in their own strong outings in the men's 5,000 meter run to spearhead eight competitors on the men's track and field side of the coin Friday at the Charlotte 49er Classic in Charlotte, N.C.
The Bears, who competed in the second day of the 49er Classic Friday evening and will be competing in the third day Saturday afternoon, got its best performance from Kammler, who finished 11th in a stacked men's 1,500 meter run that had 101 runners in the field. Kammler, who ran a 3:54.62, barely missed NAIA National 'B' Standard qualification by just over six-tenths of a second, but bested 44 NCAA Division I runners and continued to show off his versatility in running the event less than two full weeks after running in the 5,000 meter run at the NAIA Indoor Track and Field National Championships.
French, who finished 29th in the same race, set a new personal best in the event in his first outdoor race of the year and came within five-and-three-quarters seconds from a NAIA National 'B' Standard time. He bested 33 NCAA Division I runners with his 3:59.65.
Boggs, who ran a 15:21.27 in the men's 5,000 meter open race, finished 16th of 62 competitors and bettered 20 NCAA Division I runners in the process -- all while setting a new personal best time of his own in the event -- while Little, who competed in the men's 5,000 meter invite race, finished 20th, running an even faster 15:13.67.
Philip Evory, the remaining distance runner to compete Friday, ran a 4:17.61 in the 1,500 meter run to finish 77th.
Three additional Shawnee State track athletes -- Donn'Yae Ferguson, Maddox Fox, and Eugene Johnson -- competed in the men's 400 meter dash, with Ferguson, competing in his first-ever track and field event as an athlete for Shawnee State, notching the best finish of the bunch with his 63rd place time of 53.72. Fox, who ran a 54.36, and Johnson, who notched a 54.94, finished 70th and 74th, respectively.
The Bears will be back in action for Day 3 of competition Saturday.
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