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Koval
Steven Goldburg

Koval Has Two Top Ten Finishes at Indoor Pre-Nationals

2/14/2026 9:30:00 PM

The Virginia Wesleyan University men's track and field team competed across a full slate of events, turning in several personal-best performances and solid finishes throughout the meet.

In the men's 60-meter preliminaries, sophomore Jasha Brewington placed 45th overall with a season-best time of 7.32 seconds. Junior Da'Quan Smith followed closely behind, finishing 47th with a time of 7.49 seconds. Brewington also competed in the 60-meter hurdles preliminaries, where he finished 10th overall after posting a time of 8.56 seconds.

Sophomore Wataru Nakano represented the Marlins in both the 200-meter and 400-meter events. In the 200 meters, Nakano finished 57th overall with a personal-record time of 25.17 seconds. He returned later in the 400 meters, placing 51st with a time of 57.87 seconds.

In the men's 800 meters, junior Fisher Stone finished 17th overall, recording a personal-best time of 2:00.64. Stone also competed in the men's mile, where he placed 16th with a time of 5:08.51. Senior Ryan Koval led the Marlins in the mile, earning a sixth-place finish with a personal-record time of 4:34.61.

The men's 3,000 meters featured three Virginia Wesleyan runners. Koval placed ninth overall with a personal-best time of 9:16.40. Sophomore Casey Black followed in 10th place with a personal-record time of 9:20.52, while senior Jerry Watson finished 13th with a time of 9:39.90. Watson later returned in the 5,000 meters and earned a third-place finish with a personal-record time of 16:39.91. Black also competed in the 5,000 meters but did not finish the race.

In the field events, Smith placed 22nd in the long jump with a mark of 6.16 meters (20 feet, 2.50 inches). Freshman AJ Howard finished 26th with a jump of 5.71 meters (18 feet, 8.75 inches), while junior Jordan Fielder did not compete in the event. In the shot put, freshman Will Hepburn placed 22nd with a throw of 10.61 meters (34 feet, 9.75 inches). Senior Opeyemi Kareem-Ojo followed in 23rd with a mark of 10.21 meters (33 feet, 6.00 inches), and junior Malik Williams placed 26th after throwing 9.00 meters (29 feet, 6.50 inches).

The men's triple jump saw Fielder place 13th overall with a leap of 13.63 meters (44 feet, 8.75 inches). Smith finished 19th with a season-best mark of 12.44 meters (40 feet, 9.75 inches), while Howard recorded a foul in the event. In the weight throw, Hepburn led the Marlins with a 20th-place finish and a throw of 10.84 meters (35 feet, 6.75 inches). Williams placed 22nd with a mark of 10.40 meters (34 feet, 1.50 inches), and Kareem-Ojo finished 23rd after recording a throw of 9.78 meters (32 feet, 1.00 inches).
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