Samford, WCU Lead SoCon Championships on Day One

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Western Carolina women’s team and the Samford men’s team led their respective sides on day one at the 2015 SoCon Indoor Track and Field Championships at the CrossPlex in Birmingham, Ala.

The Catamount women (87) hold a sizable lead over second-place Samford (53) and third-place Furman (29) after day one of competition. On the men’s side, Samford (71) holds a 10-point advantage over Western Carolina (61) with Furman (33) currently in third.

A pair of Southern Conference records fell on day one. ETSU’s Demeteria Edgecombe recorded an 8.31 in the 60-meter hurdles to break to the previous record of 8.48 set in 2004. Later in the day, Sinead Haughey smashed the 3,000-meter record with a time of 9:27.51.

Western Carolina’s Michaela Birek started the day with a win in the pentathlon, racking up 3,511 points. The senior recorded the top marks in the shot put (10.44m), long jump (5.41m) and tied in the high jump (1.54m). Nicole Alexander finished second in the pentathlon with 3,352 points after winning the 60-meter hurdles (9.03) and tying for the top high jump mark (1.54m).

VMI’s Quincy Murphy leads the heptathlon through four events with a total of 2,799 points. Christian Carswell is second with 2,765 points while Marquis Barnes is third with 2,748 points. Barnes won the 60-meter dash (7.07) and the long jump (6.88m) with Murphy taking the shot put (12.49m) and Carswell winning the high jump (1.96m).

The men’s shot put saw VMI’s Jordan White take first place with a final mark of 16.26m (53-4.25). He was followed by Western Carolina’s Jared Johnson in second with a 15.76m throw and Samford’s Sidney Jordan in third with a 15.64m throw.

The women’s shot put followed later in the day with Western Carolina’s Alisha Bradshaw recording a mark of 15.04m (49-4.25) to take first place. Her teammate Hailey Cook would finish second with a 14.51m and VMI’s Renee Reives finished third with 14.04m.

In the women’s long jump, Western Carolina’s Xaviera Bass took first with a mark of 5.47m (17-11.50) followed by her teammate Molly Fagan with a mark of 5.28m (17-4.00). The Citadel’s Asyria Daniels finished third with a mark of a 5.09m (16-8.50).

The men’s long jump saw Western Carolina’s Brenden Caldwell take first with a mark of 6.89m (22-7.25). Samford’s Javion Lee finished second with a 6.79m (22-3.5) and Western Carolina’s Abraham Faison finished third with a 6.76m (22-2.25).

Samford swept the top three spots in the men’s pole vault. Tray Oates took first place with a 5.02m (16-5.50) jump with his teammate Austin Eckenroth finishing second with the same score. Chris Trasher finished third with a jump of 4.62m.

Samford’s Keyth Fightmaster set a school record in the men’s high jump with a mark of 2.15m (7-0.50) to claim first place in convincing fashion. Mick Noel followed in second with a jump of 1.96m (6-5.00) while Western Carolina’s Jaquell Bryant finished third with a jump of 1.93m (6-4.00).

In the women’s high jump, Western Carolina swept the top three spots. Xaviera Bass won the event with a jump of 1.69m (5-6.50). Fellow Catamounts Anisia Starege and Molly Fagan each recorded a 1.66m (5-5.25) to finish second and third, respectively.

Furman claimed both the men’s and women’s 3,000-meter individual titles. Haughey took the women’s event with a conference record while Tripp Hurt recorded a 8:29.81 to take first in the men’s event.

The final two events of the day, the men’s and women’s distance medley relay, saw a pair of strong performances. Chattanooga won the women’s event with a school-record time of 11.49.59 to take first. Furman recorded a time of 10:06.16 for the win on the men’s side.

Saturday’s events begin at 9:15 a.m. with the completion of the men’s heptathlon.

For a complete list of Saturday’s results and to follow Sunday’s live results, visit SoConSports.com

Men’s Team Results – Day 1

1. Samford - 71 points

2. Western Carolina - 61

3. Furman - 33

4. VMI - 31.50

5. The Citadel - 18.50

6. Chattanooga - 10

7. Wofford - 7

8. UNCG - 2

Women’s Team Results – Day 1

1. Western Carolina - 87 points

2. Samford - 53

3. Furman - 29

4. ETSU - 25

5, Chattanooga - 19

6. VMI - 13

7. Wofford - 4

8. The Citadel - 3

9. UNCG - 1

Men’s All-Freshman Team – Day 1

High Jump

Keyth Fightmaster, Samford

Jaquell Bryant, Western Carolina

Austin Billings, Samford

Pole Vault

Tray Oates, Samford

Long Jump

Brenden Caldwell, Western Carolina

Jordan Santana, Western Carolina

Kevin Hires, Western Carolina

Shot Put

Derrick Freeland, The Citadel

Mateius Brown, Western Carolina

3000m Run

Arse’ne Guillorel, Samford

Mike Lantz, The Citadel

Brandon King, UNCG

 

Women’s All-Freshman Team – Day 1

Pentathlon

Katie Beuerlein, Wofford

Victoria Wicks, Samford

Adriana Watkins, ETSU

3000m Run

Emma Mashburn, Furman

Emily Drouin, Chattanooga

Bryce Seymour, Furman

High Jump

Carrie Neill, Samford

Julia Logan, VMI

Katie Beverlein, Wofford

Long Jump

Timia Easley, ETSU

Tiana Pisoni, Samford

Asyria Daniels, The Citadel