C-N snags top-five finishes as the South Atlantic Conference Track & Field Championships draw to a close

Posted: Apr 16, 2016

HICKORY, N.C.— The Carson-Newman track and field team completed 2016's South Atlantic Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championships with a fourth-place showing from the men and a fifth-place finish from the women as day two witnessed three Eagles claim four individual conference championships in their respected events.

"I thought we did well today. We didn't finish exactly where we wanted to and we do not take joy in finishing fourth and fifth because that is not our end goal," coach David Needs said. "At the same time, I'm called to be grateful. I'm grateful for the effort and work that was out in by our young men and women. They really left it on the track today."

Kevin Snead (Richmond, Va.) stole the show in the sprint races as the junior took home the gold in both the men's 100m and 200m dashes. Tallying his fifth and sixth first-place finish of the season. Snead completed the 100m dash in 10.56 seconds and the 200m dash in 21.15 seconds.

The 21.15 time in the 200m broke the sprinter's own school record of 21.51 seconds set at the Power Sox Invitational on March 19 and also set a new SAC record in the process. The time provisionally qualified the junior for the 2016 Division II Outdoor Track & Field Championships and is the ninth-best in the nation for the division as of Saturday.

"To win the 100 and 200m dashes was a goal of ours from the beginning of the season," Needs said. "To break another record and to provisionally qualify for nations, you can't ask much more than that."

Junior Kieran Showler-Davis also recorded a top-five time in the race as the sprinter reeled in a fourth-place time of 21.62 seconds.

Carson-Newman's pole vaulters also put on a show Saturday afternoon as both Tori Gaul (Salisbury, N.C.) and Marshall Shank (Granite Quarry, N.C.) took home first-place showings. Gaul recorded a 3.61m leap to win the women's competition while Shank outdueled Anderson's Luke Rochester to finish ahead of the Trojan at 4.41m.

Aaron Seward (Charlotte, N.C.) tallied another top-eight finish on the day for Carson-Newman as the junior placed sixth overall in the men's 400m hurdles finals after completing the event in 56.58 seconds.

Freshman Timontrez Eady (Duval County, Fla.) held court in a number of events on the day for the Eagles. The sprinter served as the second leg in the 4 X 100m relay and the fourth leg in the 4 X 400m relay. Eady also placed fifth in the men's 100m dash following four bodies behind Snead at 10.90 seconds.

On the women's side, Tiana Mills (Chattanooga, Tenn.) put fourth another solid outing in day two for the Eagles. The junior finished second in the women's triple jump with an 11.54m mark and placed sixth in the discus throw following a 34.59m attempt.

Bre Lockett (Fontana, Calif.) led an Eagle group of shot putters with a fourth-best throw of 11.57m and Shauntae Miller (Nassau, Bahamas) recorded team-points for her seventh-place finish of 1:00.30 seconds in the women's 400m dash finals.

The women's 1500m run saw three Eagles finish in the top-eight for the finals round. Priscah Jemeli (Eldorett, Kenya) placed fourth with a 5:05.98 time, Hannah Green came right behind at fifth with a 5:13.71 time and Ashlyne Page finished seventh with a 5:20.40 time.

All in all, Carson-Newman concluded the 2016 SAC Track & Field Championships with five wins and 45 top-eight rankings on the weekend.

For Aiyana Martino (Kalispell, Mont.), Kiayna O'Neil (Houston, Texas), Lockett, Miller and Matt Rust (Murfreesboro, Tenn.), the SAC Championships served as the senior's final conference meet and the last meet of their careers for some a few of the athletes.

"Our seniors have seen a huge transition in our program over the years. With their leadership that has been put on display throughout the season, we are going to be in a debt of gratitude to these seniors," Needs said. "They have taken us to that next step and have allowed us to recruit the kind of people that we want at Carson-Newman. They have paved the way and have given me their hearts and souls over their time here. I am so thankful for that."

A select number of athletes will continue to train and compete on the weekends to try and better their cases for the 2016 NCAA Division II Outdoor Championships.

"We have to keep getting better," Needs said. "We have some good opportunities coming up with the Penn Relays and a meet at Virginia Tech. If we are going to have national-caliber kids, we need to have kids running and performing at national-caliber level. This is the time of the year to do just that."

The Penn Relays will be in next in line for the allotted amount of athletes who will make the trip to the already sold out venue on April 28-30.

Women's Results

Triple Jump

2) Tiana Mills 11.54m

Discus

6) Tiana Mills 34.59m

10) Christianna Smith 26.91m

11) Amanda Bennett 26.07m

13) Kiayna O'Neal 23.63m

19) Jasmine Johnson 16.42m

Pole Vault

1) Tori gaul 3.61m