Jordan and Moss earn high honors as both C-N teams place in the top four at SAC Championships
EMORY, Va. – After two days filled with perseverance and strong performances, the Carson-Newman track and field teams both finished in the top four. The men’s side claimed third with 95.5 points, while the women’s took fourth, missing out on third by just one point, 88 points.
EMORY, Va. – After two days filled with perseverance and strong performances, the Carson-Newman track and field teams both finished in the top four. The men's side claimed third with 95.5 points, while the women's took fourth, missing out on third by just one point, 88 points.
The Eagles women's track and field team bested their projection by 20 points. While the men pushed through injuries, beating their project by 6.5 points. The squad's overall effort left an impression on head coach Kieran Showler-Davis.
"Really great for both squads, lots of fantastic performances from both sides," Showler-Davis said. "The ladies had a heck of a day and stepped up massively. They were so close to a third-place finish, beating their projection of 68 points. The men put up a great fight despite missing key pieces to finish third."
On top of the strong team finishes, Rylan Jordan was named the Men's Track Athlete of the Meet.
"Rylan had a great day. He's a gamer, so I know he loves the championship meets, and he proved that again today," Showler-Davis said. "Seeing him progress from high school to freshman year to now has been remarkable. I'm really proud of him."
Jordan's best performance came in the 200-meter finals, where he clocked a time of 20.44 seconds to take gold and set the fastest time in Division II this season. The Johnson City, Tennessee native also notched a silver medal in the 100m, with a 10.15-second time, .06 seconds behind Catawba's Victor Smith. Jordan's time is the sixth-quickest 100m in Division II this year.
In addition to his individual efforts, the sophomore added another gold as the anchor leg for the 4x100-meter relay team, which ran a 39.91. Jordan raced alongside Taylor Madison, Amine Kasmi and Dawson Jones.
Meanwhile, on the women's side, Meiah Moss earned Women's Freshman of the Year honors.
"Talking of grit and determination, Meiah was full of it this weekend," Showler-Davis said. "Competing not only in the heptathlon, which is grueling enough as it is, but taking on some individual events too to help the team. She deserved every bit of that award."
The first-year multi finished second in the heptathlon with a season-high 4229 points, behind Wingate's Ally Holmberg. Moss also competed in the long jump and high jump finals during the individual rounds. She finished fourth in the high jump at 1.58m and seventh in the long jump at 5.41m.
Elsewhere, the Eagles had four finalists in the men's 100m finals, including Jordan. Taylor Madison was in fifth place, besting Dawson Jones by .003 seconds, while Kasmi stumbled to finish eighth at 11.33 seconds.
Kasmi regained his form in the 200m finals with his time of 20.52 seconds, .08 behind Jordan's gold-medal run. The Belgian now owns the third and fifth-fastest times in the 200m at the Division II level this season, after his 20.48-second qualifier on Wednesday.
In the decathlon, Verrol Sam held onto his top spot through the first day to take the gold medal. He finished with 6052 points, edging Anderson's David Brown across the final five events.
Freshman pole vaulter Cadence Dolgin continues his stellar freshman season with a gold medal, clearing 4.80m. It adds another piece of hardware after he was named Carson-Newman's Male Freshman of the Year at the annual Frosty's Awards.
The final medalist on the men's side was Blayne Jackson in the high jump, who eclipsed 2.01 meters.
For the women's team, Lovelyne Larrame reached the podium twice. She took gold in the 400m final with a time of 54.05 seconds, having run the fastest time in the preliminary round, 54.69 seconds. Larrame also finished with a bronze medal in the 200m finals with her time of 24.26 seconds.
In the field events, Katie Edmunds achieved a 3.50m pole vault for the silver medal. Matching the highest female field finisher for the Eagles alongside Moss.
Kendall Whitehead, Meiah Moss and Kellie Ivens all reached 1.58m in the high jump. However, Whitehead cleared the height in fewer tries compared to her teammates, earning herself a bronze medal.
Brooke Taylor also picked up a bronze medal with an 11.71m triple jump in the finals, one spot in front of Whitehead, who reached 11.67m for fourth.
Next up for Carson-Newman lies the Lee University Last Chance on May 9th. It presents one final opportunity for more athletes to punch their tickets into the Division II Outdoor National Championships in Emporia, Kansas, from May 21st to 23rd.
