Samford, WCU lead Outdoor Track & Field Championships

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CULLOWHEE, N.C. – Day one of the 2016 Southern Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships is in the books, and Samford and Western Carolina lead the men’s and women’s races, respectively, after Thursday’s action at the Catamount Athletic Complex.

The Bulldogs hold the slimmest of margins over WCU in the men’s race, having accumulated 52 points on day one to the Catamounts’ 51. Six different schools won the six finals contested on Thursday, with Samford, the two-time defending team champion, and Western Carolina taking one each. The Citadel, ETSU, Furman, and VMI also won individual titles on the opening day.

In the women’s race, Western Carolina owns a healthy 13-point lead over second-place Samford, 72.5-59.5. The Catamounts won a pair of titles Thursday, while The Citadel, ETSU, Samford and Chattanooga won one each.

One of the highlights of the day came from The Citadel’s Capers Williamson, who shattered the SoCon Championship record in the javelin with a winning throw of 72.95 meters. The Bulldog graduate student bested the field by more than 11 meters and added more than 6 meters to the record he set at last season’s championship meet, when he won his first title in the event.

Williamson’s record-breaking effort came after a rain delay of 1 hour, 40 minutes, as the javelin throwers were warming up when lightning forced the suspension of action. The layoff didn’t seem to affect Williamson, whose second throw of the day went more than 68 meters, which also broke the previous record. His third throw proved the eventual record-setter.

Despite this being Williamson’s final SoCon Championship, the future looks bright for the sport within the league, as the next three finishers were all freshmen. ETSU’s Ben Johnson was the runner-up with a heave of 61.17 meters, while The Citadel’s Charlie Hatler was third with a throw of 54.56 meters. VMI’s Brian Donna was right behind him at 54.41 meters.

Samford’s Tray Oates also crushed a SoCon record, breaking a 27-year-old mark in the pole vault by clearing 5.50 meters. He erased the standard of 5.31 meters set by Appalachian State’s Todd Poremba in 1989. Oates’ mark was more than a foot higher than that of runner-up Brett Squibbs of ETSU, who cleared 5.11 meters.

Furman, which sits fifth in the men’s race after day one, swept the podium in the day’s first event, the men’s 10,000-meter run. Freshman Aaron Templeton won it in 31:10.79, followed by 2015 champion Josh Brickell in second. In third was another Paladin freshman, Frank Lara, as Furman finished 1-2-3.

VMI’s Jordan White became the Institute’s first champion in a field event since its return to the league year ago, as his throw of 54.60 meters was good for the title in the hammer throw. A trio of Catamounts followed him, as Scott Peretin, Jared Johnson and Mateius Brown finished second through fourth, respectively.

Western Carolina freshman Jamie Brown won the men’s long jump with a leap of 7.36 meters, while Samford’s Marquis Barnes, the 2015 champion in the event, finished second at 7.28.

ETSU’s Simeon Roberts closed the men’s portion of the day with a win in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, turning in a time of 9:18.36, well ahead of second-place Sean Helmke of VMI (9:27.47).

Five events of the decathlon were completed Thursday, with Western Carolina’s Christian Carswell leading the event at the midway point with 3,385 points. Carswell won the high jump and finished second in the long jump and third in the 100-meter dash.

In the women’s race, defending champion Western Carolina got a pair of wins in the field events to bolt out to the team lead.

In the women’s hammer, Western Carolina junior Haley Cook turned in a season-best heave of 50.88 meters to take the title. Samford’s Aerial Horton was second at 48.71 meters, with VMI’s Logan Edwards right on her heels at 48.67 meters.

Western Carolina sophomore Meghan Breden dethroned 2015 champion Ashley Kessler of ETSU in the pole vault, posting a height of 3.81 meters for her first career title. Kessler finished second at 3.66 meters, with WCU’s Korie Bennett in third at 3.66 meters.

Samford picked up its win in the day’s final event, the 3,000-meter steeplechase. The Bulldogs’ Emma Garner turned in a time of 10:54.99 to finish more than 17 second ahead of ETSU’s Macy Carrier (11:12.35).

2014 champion and SoCon record-holder Teghan Henderson of Chattanooga added another title in the 10,000 meters, making her move with four laps to go and finishing in 37:04.05, well ahead of second-place Emma Mashburn of Furman (37:10.23). Last season’s champion, Furman’s Laura Miller, finished third.

ETSU earned a win in the long jump, with freshman Kyra Atkins claiming the title with a jump of 5.64 meters to edge Western Carolina’s Tiffani Lewis (5.60m) and Chenell Bryan (5.58m).

Mady Riegel made it a Citadel sweep in the javelin by turning in a throw of 42.18 meters. Her throw was more than 7 meters farther than that of runner-up Holly Gaines of Western Carolina (35.00m). WCU’s Kennedy Williams finished third (34.12m).

Gaines holds the lead after four events of the heptathlon, as the defending champion won the 200-meter dash and finished second in the shot put.

Preliminaries were contested in the men’s and women’s 1,500-meter runs, men’s 110-meter hurdles, women’s 100-meter hurdles, men’s and women’s 400-meter dashes, men’s and women’s 100-meter dashes, men’s and women’s 800-meter runs, men’s and women’s 400-meter hurdles and men’s and women’s 200-meter dashes. Finals in those events will be contested Friday.

This year’s championship is free to the public. Live results, daily recaps, daily photos and video highlights can be found at SoConSports.com.

Men’s results – Day 1
1. Samford – 52 points
2. Western Carolina – 51
3. ETSU – 40
4. VMI – 31
5. Furman – 30
6. The Citadel – 24
7. Wofford – 6
8. UNCG – 0

Women’s results – Day 1
1. Western Carolina – 72.5 points
2. Samford – 59.5
3. ETSU – 33
4. The Citadel – 18
5. Chattanooga – 15
T6. VMI – 14
T6. Furman – 14
8. Wofford – 5
9. UNCG – 3
10. Mercer – 0

Men’s All-Freshman – Day 1
10,000 meters
Aaron Templeton, Furman
Frank Lara, Furman
Ben Bryant, Samford

Men’s hammer throw
Danny Andrews, The Citadel

Men’s javelin throw
Ben Johnson, ETSU
Charlie Hatler, The Citadel
Brian Donna, VMI

Men’s pole vault
Andrew Arlint, VMI

Men’s long jump
Jamie Brown, Western Carolina
Tyrie Adams, Western Carolina
Jordan Williams, The Citadel

Men’s 3,000-meter steeplechase
Jordan Bostian, Western Carolina

Women’s All-Freshman – Day 1
10,000 meters
Anna Long, Samford

Women’s hammer throw
Tatiana Taylor, Samford
Ruby Caldwell, Samford
Alex King, Wofford

Women’s pole vault
Sarah Lee, Samford
Rebecca Pfitzer, Samford
Kennedy Williams, Western Carolina

Women’s long jump
Kyra Atkins, ETSU
Tamilia Wright, Western Carolina
Alexandra Burgess, Wofford

Women’s javelin
Kennedy Williams, Western Carolina
Kameron Cass, The Citadel
Emily Armstrong, ETSU

Women’s 3,000-meter steeplechase
Anna Long, Samford
Haley Morris, Chattanooga

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