WILLIAMSBURG, Ky.— The Carson-Newman track and field team wrapped up competition at the Cumberlands Invitational Saturday afternoon after two days of events as the meet served as the final tune up before the South Atlantic Conference Championship Meet takes place next week on April 13.
"This weekend was a great workout for our athletes as it was the final competition before the SAC meet next week. A lot of out sprinters improved, along with four first-place finishes on the weekend," C-N track and field coach David Needs said. "I'm proud of this team and really proud of our 400 meter hurlers, Caleb Agee and Holly Talbut-Smith. Both did a phenomenal job today and keep improving."
Over the course of both Friday and Saturday, the Eagles sported four first-place finishes with 13 competitors taking home top-five honors. In all, 23 Carson-Newman athletes placed in the top-10 while numerous others took a step forward with the conference meet approaching.
Taking home blue ribbons on the weekend was Tiana Mills (Chattanooga, Tenn.) in both the women's triple and long jumps, Kristofer Potts-Howard (Tullahoma, Tenn.) in the men's triple jump and Tanner Stepp (Jefferson City, Tenn.) in the men's high jump.
Mills swept the horizontal jumps on the women's side with an 11.63 meter mark in the triple jump and a 5.50 meter leap in the long jump. Though the marks were not high-points on the season for Mills, they were good enough to win both events by a swift margin. In the triple, the senior's mark was .50 meters father than Lindsey Wilson's Annasha Harris, who finished in second-place, while in the long, Mills's mark was .36 meters longer than silver medal finisher Katrina Tovar.
The Chattanooga, Tenn. native will look to win the gold in the SAC meet next week as Mills finished second in the triple and third in the long jump a season ago in the championships following a SAC Women's Field Athlete of the Year honor in 2015.
Coming off the most successful meet of his career two weeks ago at the Tennessee Rust Buster on March 25, Potts-Howard took home the gold in the men's triple jump with a mark of 14.30 meters. With a career-best leap of 14.56 meters in Knoxville, the sophomore still ranks 24th in the nation, but Saturday's first-place leap was good enough by nearly a meter as Kevin Smith's second-place mark checked in at 13.40 meters.
The jumper also finished third in the long jump with a 6.77 meter jump.
Stepp picked up his first win of the season in the men's long jump Saturday afternoon as the four-time All-American took home the gold with a 2.05 meter leap in the men's long jump. The junior finished just in front of fellow Eagle Christian Stumpf (Johnson City, Tenn.) who finished second with a 1.94 meter leap.
The Jefferson City, Tenn. native, Stepp, looks to take home his first-career SAC championship in the event next weekend as the junior finished second a season ago.
Carson-Newman also had standouts in the 400 meter hurdles as both Caleb Agee and Holly Talbut-Smith (Crawley, England) picked up second-place finishes on the day. Talbut-Smith finished the round with a 1:07.22 time while Agee took home the silver medal with a time of 55.64 seconds.
Agee currently ranks first in both the SAC and the Southeast Region in the event.
The Eagles featured mild improvements in the men's 200 meter dash as three athletes finished the trial in under 23 seconds. Timontrez Eady (Duvall County, Fla.) placed seventh with a time of 22.61 seconds, Drake McCowan finished eighth with a 22.71 second time and Jeremiah McCarter (Sevierville, Tenn.) came in 13th with a 22.98 second time.
Carson-Newman's fourth participant in the event, Rayshawn Tiller Jr. (Duval County, Fla.) came in right at the 23.00 second mark to bring home the 15th best time in the event on the day.
"Again, it was a great tune up for our team this weekend, but the real challenge is next weekend at conference," Needs said. "We need to carry over the good results from this weekend to next. We are looking forward to the challenge."
The Eagles will now set their sights towards the SAC Championship Meet that is set to begin Thursday, April 13 in Hickory, N.C. on the campus of league-foe Lenoir-Rhyne. A complete recap will be available online at cneagles.com following each day of events while live updates can be found on Twitter at @CN_Track.
Carson-Newman Women
Triple Jump
1) Tiana Mills- 11.63 meters
8) Shelby Reynolds- 10.39 meters
17) Vinson Grace- 9.24 meters
4X100 Meter Relay
7) Carson-Newman "A"- 51.29 seconds
400 Meter Dash
21) Natalie Bartos- 1:05.81
22) Jenifer Warrren- 1:05.83
24) Jessica Capron- 1:06.59
800 Meter Run
17) Lindsey Williams- 2:33.59
24) Sky McCarter- 2:38.54
29) Ashlyne Page- 2:40.73
39) Sara Honaker- 2:50.65
400 Meter Hurdles
2) Holly Talbut-Smith- 1:07.02
200 Meter Dash
12) Cassie Smith- 27.00 seconds
15) Madison Pickel- 27.28 seconds
Long Jump
1) Tiana Mills- 5.50 meters
7) Shelby Reynolds- 4.94 meters
24) Alexis Sczerba- 4.37 meters
Discus Throw
18) Ashton Abbott- 29.33 meters
20) Christianna Smith- 28.92 meters
Shot Put
25) Christianna Smith- 10.04 meters
27) Abby Tinsley- 9.77 meters
36) Jasmine Johnson- 8.45 meters
High Jump
9) Shelby Reynolds- 1.43 meters
Carson-Newman Men
Javelin Throw
3) Christian Stumpf- 52.38 meters
Triple Jump
1) Kristofer Potts-Howard – 14.30 meters
4X100 Meter Relay
2) Carson-Newman "A"- 42.50 seconds
400 Meter Dash
15) Anthony Jackson- 52.63 seconds
100 Meter Dash
5) Noah Hill- 11.03 seconds
8) Ray Artybridge- 11.22 seconds
12) Drake McCowan- 11.37 seconds
23) Lonnie Williams- 11.69 seconds
400 Meter Hurdles
2) Caleb Agee- 55.64 seconds
200 Meter Dash
7) Timontrez Eady- 22.61 seconds
8) Drake McCowan- 22.71 seconds
13) Jeremiah McCarter- 22.98 seconds
15) Ray Tiller Jr.- 23.00 seconds
Long Jump
2) Timontrez Eady- 6.85 meters
3) Kristofer Potts-Howard – 6.77 meters
4) Ray Artybridge- 6.74 meters
6) T.J. Davis- 6.67 meters
Shot Put
8) Logan Pender- 12.76 meters
9) Lee Wells- 12.75 meters
13) Jaysen Cook-Calhoun- 11.98 meters
14) Austin Gramann- 11.82 meters
17) Matthew Melton- 11.51 meters
Discus Throw
10) Jaysen Cook-Calhoun- 39.80 meters
14) Lee Wells- 36.21 meters
21) Matthew Morgan- 34.20 meters
40) Logan Pender- 24.75 meters
43) Austin Gramann- 21.42 meters
High Jump
1) Tanner Stepp- 2.05 meters
2) Christian Stumpf- 1.94 meters
6) T.J. Davis- 1.84 meters
-CN-
