The Winston-Salem State track & field teams got things underway, Friday when the team returned to action at the Liberty Open in Lynchburg, Va. After nearly seven weeks since their last competition, the Rams and Lady Rams didn’t show any signs of rust as the squads posted a number of great finishes at the meet.

The Rams’ 4x800m relay team highlighted Friday’s performances as the squad took first place in the event with an 8:05.76 effort in the event. WSSU freshman Andrew Chebii who keyed the win with a strong performance on the relay’s second leg. “We led the event from start to finish,” WSSU track & field head coach Halcyon Blake said. “Cornell had a great start and then Andrew blew it away. After that, Elijah [Strickland] and Desmond [Wiggan] brought the race home for us.”

The relay was the only action for the Rams, but that did not stop the other WSSU indoor track & field team from coming out and showing their support for the squad.

“The entire team came out and rallied behind our athletes,” Blake added. “They definitely had an impact because we were all over the place.”

The Lady Rams’ multi-event athletes got in on the act with freshman Crystal Webley leading the charge. Webley finished in sixth place in the women’s pentathlon with 2,904 points in the event. Her best single event finish came in the women’s 60m dash when she finished third in the penthathlon’s upper division with a 9.22 in the event. Senior Malliron Hodge and sophomore Persha Lane had some strong performances in the lower division of the pentathlon. Hodge finished second in the women’s 60m hurdles with a 10.24. Lane finished in the women’s high jump in the lower division with a 4’11” (1.50m). Hodge finished second in the women’s 800m run in the lower division.