Several members of the VCU Rams men’s track and field team achieved personal bests and program milestones during competitions held on April 19 at the Virginia Challenge in Charlottesville, Virginia, and the Georgia Tech Invitational in Atlanta, Georgia.
The events saw strong performances from Presten Augustin, Philip Daniel, and Isaiah-Taji Kargbo-Owens. Each athlete set new personal records while also contributing to major program achievements. Freshman Presten Augustin won the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 51.63 seconds, marking a personal record and recording the third-best mark in VCU history. Marcus Acheampong also set a personal record in the 110-meter hurdles with a time of 14.00 seconds, finishing sixth overall and matching Augustin’s achievement as third-best all-time for VCU.
In sprints, Jordan Davis competed in both the 100-meter dash (10.79 seconds) and the 200-meter dash (21.66 seconds), while Jude Okafor ran the 400 meters in 48.10 seconds. The relay team consisting of Lopez Lumaine, Okafor, Jaeden Cassell, and Davis finished their race at 41.05 seconds.
Jump events featured notable results as well: freshman Destiny Ese achieved a long jump distance of 7.35 meters to finish fifth with a new personal best; Philip Daniel recorded a long jump of 6.96 meters; both Daniel (15.92 meters wind-aided) and Kargbo-Owens (15.78 meters) broke program records in triple jump with Daniel placing fifth and Kargbo-Owens seventh.
In throws, Troy McWilliams set his own hammer throw best at 60.84 meters—good for fifth place overall—and established another third-best mark for VCU’s history books.
Looking ahead, VCU will compete next at the Atlantic 10 Outdoor Championships hosted by George Mason University on May 2nd through May 3rd.
