JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. - After opening the season in Johnson City, the Carson-Newman track & field team returns to the Buc Dome for the Buccaneer Invitational on Feb. 4 and 5.
The field for the Buccaneer Invitational is stacked with 25 teams competing at the event. Host ETSU, Appalachian State, Alabama A&M, Gardner-Webb, UNC-Asheville, and Tennessee Tech are the six Division-1 teams competing, while 14 Division-II teams will compete inside the Buc Dome, including SAC foes Mars Hill, Lincoln Memorial, Newberry, Anderson, Catawba and Emory & Henry.
The Eagles are coming off of the most successful week of the indoor season so far at the Tiger Paw Invite in Lousiville, Ky. on Jan. 28, recording two event wins and two new school records. Devon Moore won his first 60 meter race of the season with a time of 6.86 seconds. Carson-Newman swept the podium in the 60 meter men's run, with Makanakaishe Charamba finishing second at 6.87 seconds and Sterling Melancon finishing third at 6.88 seconds. The win is Moore's tenth career victory in the 60 meter run.
Charamba, Moore and Melancon have all set provisional times in the 60 meter run, with Charamba's time of 6.81 seconds set at the ETSU Invitational ranking as the 15th fastest in all of Division-II. Charamba also holds a provisional mark in the 200 meters, setting a time of 21.51 seconds at the ETSU Invitational. That time is the 13th fastest in all of Division-II.
Joseph Oreva recorded his first win of the season in the long jump in Louisville with a jump of 7.24 meters. Oreva was one of just two athletes at the meet to reach the seven meter mark. The win is Oreva's fifth career win in the event. He has never finished lower than sixth in the long jump in his career at Carson-Newman. For his efforts, Oreva earned his third career SAC Indoor Field Athlete of the Week honor on Feb. 1. Oreva's 7.24 meter mark is a provisional mark and is the 19th longest mark in all of Division-II.
Matthew Blackmon continues his strong freshman season, continuing to break the school record in the 60 meter run. Blackmon started his day in Louisville by winning his preliminary heat and earned the one seed for the finals with a time of 8.25 seconds, demolishing his old record set at the ETSU Invitational by 0.16 seconds. Blackmon finished second in the 60 meter hurdle finals with another school record time in the event with a time of 8.22 seconds. The mark is also an NCAA Division II provisional mark and currently ties Blackmon with Samuel Dewitt of UIndy for the 34th fastest time in Division-II. Blackmon has either set or reset the school record in the event in all four career races he has competed in while at Carson-Newman.
Siphosethu Boya also kept up his strong pace to the beginning of the season, finishing second at the Tiger Paw Invitational in the 400 meter run with a school record time of 49.07 seconds. The mark is a new personal best for Boya at Carson-Newman and his second straight second place finish in the event. The time is also the second fastest time in the event in facility history at the Norton Sports Learning Center in Louisville, Ky.
On the women's side, Nathalie Schumacher earned her second career SAC Indoor Field Athlete of the Week honor after finishing second in the high jump at the Tiger Paw Invite. Schumacher finished second in the high jump in her first competition of the season with a clearance of 1.55 meters. Schumacher, Sarah Bolton of Georgetown College and Henriette Halwas all cleared 1.55 meters, but Bolton earns the event championship due to clearing the mark in just one jump. It's the third straight meet that Schumacher has finished inside the top five in the event and the sixth straight indoor meet she has finished inside the top five.
For the second time in program history, @CN_Track completes the sweep of both the men's and women's @SAC_Athletics indoor field athletes of the week honors
— Carson-Newman Athletics (@CN_Eagles) February 1, 2022
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Abby Owens finished second in the pole vault with a clearance of 3.37 meters. Neveah Brown of Midway won the event championship after clearing the mark in just one jump. Owens has now finished in the top five in 11 of the last 13 events she has competed in at Carson-Newman.
Tia Davis advanced to the finals of the 60 meter run with a time of 7.91 seconds, the second fastest time in her heat and third fastest in the prelims. Davis finished second in the finals of the event with a time of 7.80 seconds, her eleventh top-eight finish in the event dating back to the 2021 KMS Invitational. Davis also recorded a second place finish in the 200 meter run with a time of 25.90 seconds. Davis has finished inside the top-10 in the indoor 200 meter run in five straight meets dating back to the 2021 Buccaneer Invitational.
Freshman Sydney McCarty continued her strong start, recording her first career top-three finish with a personal best mark of 5.46 meters in the long jump. McCarty finished just 0.01 meters behind second-place finisher Luna Senica of Lindsey Wilson. The mark is also 0.14 meters further than her previous mark set at the ETSU Invitational.
The Buccaneer Invitational begins on Friday, Feb. 4 at 10:30 AM with the prelims of the 60 meter hurdles and other sprint events and the finals of two distance races on the track on Friday. The men's and women's long jump, women's high jump, women's pole vault and the men's and women's weight throw will also be held on Friday.
Fans can follow along with a live stats link available at cneagles.com or with live updates on twitter at @cn_eagles.
