C-N wraps up day one of double-barrel action packed weekend

Posted: Feb 03, 2017

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn.— In day one of a split-squad weekend, the Carson-Newman track and field team sent representatives to both the ETSU David E Walker Invitational and the JDL Camel City Classic with hopes of garnering more national qualifiers.

The Eagles did just that as Ray Artybridge (Iva, S.C.) and Tiana Mills (Chattanooga, Tenn.) provisionally qualified in the long jumping sectors. Artybridge recorded a personal-best of 7.18 meters while Mills neared her personal-best of 5.75 meters with a 5.70 meter jump Friday afternoon.

Mills, who has already provisionally qualified in the women's triple jump, and Artybridge join Tanner Stepp (Jefferson City, Tenn.) and Christian Stumpf (Johnson City, Tenn.) [high jump] and T.J. Davis (Chattanooga, Tenn.) [long jump] as the five C-N athletes who are on the fast track to compete in the 2017 NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships.

The two aforementioned were just two Eagles who shined in day one of competition at the David E Walker Invitational in Johnson City, Tenn. All three of Carson-Newman's long jumpers on the men's side surpassed the 23' mark, which is an accomplishment in itself according to assistant coach Tyler Stepp.

"T.J. [Davis], Ray [Artybridge] and Kristopher [Potts-Howard] all had great days in the long jump. Them, along with Tiana [Mills], really highlighted the day in the horizontal jumps," Stepp said. "Ray and Tiana posted provisional qualifying marks while Kristofer out jumped his previous career-high by a foot."

Artybridges's jump surpassed his previous high by .09 meters during his fifth-place day while Potts-Howard's leap of 7.06 meters was god enough for eighth-place. Davis, who recorded an indoor-best of 7.24 meters two weeks ago on Jan. 13 at the same facility, came in ninth-place with a 7.05 meter mark.

Mills's showcase in the long jump was the third-best performance on the day in a Division I-heavy field.

"Overall, I think that we accomplished for the most part. We had two really tough training weeks and the performance showed that today," Stepp said. "The horizontal jumps were the highlight of the day. Otherwise, Caleb Agee ran a pretty solid 400 meters and is continually showing improvement because we are still working with him on strategy and he is getting better."

Saturday's David E. Walker action will showcase other running events, as well as the triple and high jumps for both the men and women.

At the JDL fast track in Winston Salem, N.C., coach David Needs took a squad of six sprinters that competed in both the men and women's 60 meter dash.

Noah Hill (Nashville, Tenn.), Timontrez Eady (Duval County, Fla.), Drake McCowan and Kevin Snead (Richmond, Va.) all competed on the men's side as Hill continued his consistent progression with a 7.10 second time in the event. Eady came in a few paces behind with a 7.18 second finish and McCowan placed a few slots back after completing the trial in 7.44 seconds.

In his debut meet of the 2017 indoor season, Snead false started in the 60 meter dash.

On the women's side, both Madison Pickel (Sevierville, Tenn.) and Cassie Smith (Knoxville, Tenn.) took part in the event as well as the duo placed 56^th and 53^rd, respectively.

The athletes at the JDL fast track will embark on the 200 meter run Saturday afternoon.

Keep up with all of Saturday's action from both the David E. Walker Invitational and the Camel City Classic on Twitter by following the team's account at @CN_Track. A full recap following both meets will be up and available at cneagles.com.

David E. Walker Classic (ETSU) Carson-Newman Men

60m Hurdles 43^rd Trent Brewington 9.22 seconds

400m: 32^nd Caleb Agee 51.55 seconds

34^th Jeremiah McCarter 51.68 seconds

47^th Ray Tiller 52.58 seconds

60m: 64^th Trent Brewington 7.45 seconds

Long Jump: 5^th Ray Artybidge 7.18 meters

8^th Kristopher Potts-Howard 7.06 meters

9^th T.J. Davis 7.05 meters

David E. Walker Classic (ETSU) Carson-Newman Women

200m: 76^th Jessica Capron 28.50 seconds

80^th Katelynn Hadjopoulos 28.73 seconds