RICHMOND, Va. – The Virginia Union University men's track & field team opened the 2026 outdoor season with several strong performances at the Fred Hardy Invitational, hosted by the University of Richmond on March 19–20.

"Our season opener went well overall," said VUU Head Men's Track & Field Coach Franck Charles. "It showed us exactly what we need to improve moving forward. We have a lot of things to fix as a team, but that's what an opening meet is for—identifying areas to get better. With that being said, we also had several strong performances."

One of the highlights of the meet came in the shot put, where Dequan Boone broke the Virginia Union outdoor school record with a throw of 15.95 meters. Teammates Trievon Hooker and Timothy Butler also delivered solid performances, finishing fourth and fifth overall, respectively.

In the discus, Zachary Jones claimed first place and set a new school record with a throw of 51.56 meters, surpassing his previous mark. Butler added another strong finish in the event, placing third overall with a throw of 46.03 meters.

Virginia Union also saw strong results in the jumps and sprint events. Jeremiah Palacious placed second in the long jump with a leap of 7.02 meters, while Osborne J'Meriyon finished fifth overall with a jump of 6.67 meters.

On the track, Darryl Wilson Jr. finished third in the 100-meter dash, and Mychael Tucker placed fifth overall in the 400-meter dash with a time of 48.51 seconds.

The Panthers will return to action at the Morehouse Relays, scheduled for March 26–28 at Morehouse College in Atlanta.