March 4, 2005

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - The Samford men's and women's track and field teams competed in the first day of the FSU Snowbird Invitational, hosted by Florida State University on Friday.

"I am excited that we have gotten off to a great start," Samford head coach Glenn McWaters said. "I thought our athletes performed well today, and I was really pleased with the way we have started this meet."

Samford won its first two events of the day. Freshman Michael Smith won the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 54.91. The women's distance medley team of Michelle Brewer, Mary Nunnally, Starr Gager and Jessica Brewer, won in a time of 12:33.59.

The women's sprint medley team of LaToya Cunningham, Tiffany London, Sarah Aultman and Robyn DeBenedet finished second with a time of 4:07.98. The men's distance medley team of Sean Rogers, Austin Walker, Patrick Weaver and Drew Anderwald came in third with a time of 10:28.88, while Derek Simmons came in third in the men's discus, with a school-record distance of 158'05". Bryan Baddorf ran in the 5,000-meter run, finishing the race in 15:06.80, good for an 18th- place finish.

The meet will conclude Saturday, with events beginning at 8:30 a.m. (CT).