Connell claims gold as Eagles record pair of fifth place finishes at SAC Indoor Championships
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - The Carson-Newman men's and women's track & field team both finished fifth place at the 2021 SAC Indoor Championships.
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - The Carson-Newman men's and women's track & field team both finished fifth place at the 2021 SAC Indoor Championships.
The men recorded two gold medals, one silver medal and three bronze medals at the event, finishing with a total score of 74.5 points. The women earned one silver medal and one bronze medal this weekend, locking up fifth place with 36 total points. The fifth place finish is two spots lower than the men's predicted finish of third in the preseason poll, but is four spots higher than the women's predicted finish of ninth.
Queens swept both the men's and women's championships, earning 160 points in both categories this weekend.
"This is a very competitive conference and it is so close at the top," says Director of Track & Field and Cross Country David Needs. "We had some folks who showed up when we needed to. Christian Shouse was in some pain and still finished third. Garrett moved from seventh to fourth in his final jump in the triple jump. Raymond Brugmans passed a guy in the final 20 seconds to get us extra points. Tray and Harrison came up strong in the shot put to get us some extra points. It's the little things from our team working hard and working with Dr. Brock to get ready. A lot of things to celebrate but still a lot to work on before outsdoor season."
Shane Connell won his first SAC conference championship in his career, finishing first in the men's high jump with a clearance of 2.02 meters. Connell was the only athlete to clear two meters at the event. The sophomore from Manchester, England finished second in the same event at the 2021 SAC Outdoor Championships. Connell has never finished lower than fourth in the high jump at Carson-Newman between the indoor and outdoor seasons.
��CHAMP��
— Carson-Newman Athletics (@CN_Eagles) February 27, 2022
Shane Connell wins the SAC high jump champion and secures ten more points for @CN_Track
�� https://t.co/On74fdnHvg ($)
�� https://t.co/1cMq3MhQ3u pic.twitter.com/Zb6O5GmzkS
Teammate Christian Shouse finished third in the high jump with a clearance of 1.97 meters. Shouse also recorded a top-10 finish in the long jump yesterday, finishing sixth. Shouse has now finished with a medal in the high jump at every SAC Indoor Championship he has competed in.
�� What a way to cap off a come back
— Carson-Newman Athletics (@CN_Eagles) February 27, 2022
Christian Shouse returns to the track with a third place medal in the high jump @CN_Track
�� https://t.co/On74fdnHvg ($)
�� https://t.co/1cMq3MhQ3u pic.twitter.com/oK4DpNERMq
Devon Moore finished third in the 60-meter run finals with a time of 6.88 seconds. Moore has finished now lower than fifth in the event at the SAC Indoor Championships, including a first place finish at the 2020 event. Moore also finished eighth in the 200-meter run finals with a time of 26.67 seconds.
�� Another podium honor for @ReallVon in the 60-meter run @CN_Track
— Carson-Newman Athletics (@CN_Eagles) February 27, 2022
�� https://t.co/On74fdnHvg ($)
�� https://t.co/1cMq3MhQ3u pic.twitter.com/CQtgrzceXy
Nathalie Schumacher wrapped up her strong season with a clearance of 1.60 meters in the women's high jump to finish third. Schumacher also finished in third at the 2020 SAC Indoor Championships in the event. The junior from Germany has finished inside the top-three in the high jump in 13 of her last 14 meets. Schumacher also set a personal best in the shot put, finishing 15th with a distance of 10.26 meters.
�� Soarin.' Flyin.' Another podium finish for Nathalie Schumacher in the high jump @CN_Track pic.twitter.com/H27TJlXHOB
— Carson-Newman Athletics (@CN_Eagles) February 27, 2022
Of the 110.5 total points scored this weekend by the Eagle men and women, 58.5 of those points were scored by members of the Carson-Newman jumps squad.
The Eagles recorded 19 top-10 finishes and eight personal bests on the final day of the SAC Indoor Championships.
Trayzel Juriedini-Wyche set a new personal best in the shot put, finishing fourth with a distance of 14.74 meters. His teammate Harrison Sheeler finished right behind him at fifth with a personal best of his own, recording a toss of 14.42 meters.
Courtavious Garrett just missed out on a podium placement, finishing fourth in the triple jump with a distance of 14.09 meters. Garrett has finished inside the top-10 in the triple jump in seven of his last eight meets. His teammate Oluwafemi Richards finished tenth in the event with a distance of 12.82 meters. Richards has finished in the top-10 in the event at three of his last four meets.
One day after tying her personal best in the event, Tytiana Wilson finished fifth in the finals of the 400-meter run with a new personal best time of 59.48 seconds.
Siphosethu Boya finished sixth in the 400-meter run with a time of 50.66 seconds. Boya has finished inside the top-10 in the event in five of his last six races.
Tia Davis edged out Christine Clerger of Lenoir-Rhyne by 0.006 seconds to finish sixth in the 60-meter finals. Davis has now finished inside the top-eight in the 60-meter run in 13 straight races. Davis also recorded a fifth place finish in the 200-meter run with a time of 25.89 seconds.
Makanakaishe Charamba and Sterling Melancon both finished inside the top-eight of the 60-meter run finals. Charamba finished sixth with a time of 6.94 seconds, while Melancon finished seventh at 6.97 seconds.
A day after finishing second in the pole vault, Sam Cleek recorded a seventh place finish in the high jump with a clearance of 1.92 meters.
Sydney McCarty recorded her second top-10 finish of the weekend, finishing tenth in the triple jump with a distance of 10.17 meters.
Morgan Stanton finished eighth in the women's high jump with a clearance of 1.50 meters. Stanton has recorded four straight top-10 finishes in the event.
Both the men's and women's 4x400 meter relay teams finished seventh at the event. The men's team of KJ Laribo, Charamba, Austin Greer and Raymond Brugmans recorded a time of 3:28.69. The women's team of Morgan Bailey, Abbie Zander, Amanda Clabo and Wilson recorded a time of 4:07.59.
Ian Salyer set a personal best for the second straight day, this time in the shot put with a toss of 11.97 meters. The mark beats his old personal best by 1.13 meters. Matthew Campbell also beat his personal best in the shot put, recording a toss of 11.05 meters.
Alexis Brown set a personal best in the shot put with a toss of 6.46 meters, beating her old mark by 0.40 meters.
In the 3000 meter run, Olivia Fanning beat her personal best in the event by almost 30 seconds, recording a time of 12:15.60.
"I would say that this season was very successful," says Needs. "We have at least one qualifier for nationals in Joseph Oreva who will get ready for the national stage. Everyone else will take a well deserved break and get ready for outdoor season."
Oreva currently sits at 11th in all of Division-II in the high jump after winning the long jump championship this weekend with a distance of 7.43 meters. Oreva and the rest of the Eagles will wait for their names to be called for qualifying at the NCAA D-II Indoor Championships. The national qualifiers will be released on Tuesday, Mar. 1. Fans can stay connected and find out who has qualifed for the national championships at cneagles.com.
