Mount Olive College junior Amber Thompson made her first outdoor track and field meet of the season a big one. The Trojan distance runner won the women's 3,000-meter steeplechase Saturday four seconds as the team took part in the spring opening Coastal Carolina Invitational at Myrtle Beach, S.C.
Thompson's time narrowly missed qualifying her for the NCAA Championships. Nevertheless, her mark of 11:15.83 easily outdistanced the field Saturday.
Teammate Aerostata Brown brought home a pair of top 10 finished in the jumps. In the triple jump, she finished sixth out of 23 competitors overall with a mark of 10.88 meters. In the long jump, her leap of 5.30 was good enough for eighth out of 19.
Also in the field events, Mount Olive took a pair of top 15 finishes in the shot put. Jaynell Brown placed sixth out of 40 athletes with a school record 12.12 meters, while Char'de Washington was 14th at 11.21.
Mount Olive returns to action Saturday when the Trojans take part in the Dr. Jack M. Toms Open at Lynchburg (Va.) College.