BLACK MOUNTAIN, N.C. - Five event wins, four NCAA provisional or qualifying marks, and one school record highlight the Carson-Newman track team's big weekend at the Montreat Invitational.
"You love the event wins, you love the NCAA marks, but you also love the kids that keep setting personal bests," says Director of Track & Field and Cross Country David Needs. "We had a lot of people step up big today. Seeing the 4x100 meter relay team set a qualifying mark without Von shows how deep this sprints squad is. Trayzel, Shane and Nathalie have all been working hard and seeing them finally tune their craft and get those big marks is great for them. But we also need to focus on the whole picture, looking at the kids who, while they may not have won their event, are continuing to set personal bests and working hard so that way they can move forward."
The day begin in earnest for the Eagles, as the 4x100 meter men's relay team of PJ Lotharp, Makanakaishe Charamba, Tshenelo Lemao, and Siphosethu Boya winning the race with a time of 40.90 seconds. That time is an NCAA qualifying mark and is currently the seventh fastest in all of Division-II. The race was the quartet's first time running together in a competition this season.
SPEED
— Carson-Newman Athletics (@CN_Eagles) March 26, 2022
The men's 4x100 relay team of PJ Lotharp, Maka Charamba, @tslemao and Sipho Boya win the race at Montreat with a time of 40.90 seconds, a national qualifiying time and the 7th fastest tine in the nation @CN_Track
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Trayzel Juredini-Wyche continues to impress, tossing a new school record mark in the discus with a toss of 53.81 meters. The throw breaks his own record setting mark he set at Montreat during the 2021 outdoor season. The throw is also the second longest in all of Divsion-II, behind Cason Brown of Angelo State. This is also Juredini-Wyche's ninth straight top-10 finish in the event.
A new school record mark in the discus for @45_houdini as he owns the second farthest toss in the nation at 53.81 meters @CN_Track pic.twitter.com/73FvyWvyc3
— Carson-Newman Athletics (@CN_Eagles) March 27, 2022
Nathalie Schumacher repeated her success at Montreat from last season, winning the high jump championship with a clearance of 1.59 meters. It is the second straight season that Schumacher has won the event championship at Montreat, winning the event last year with a clearance of 1.70 meters. The junior also set a new personal best in the long jump with a distance of 4.78 meters.
On the men's side, the Eagles completed the perfect sweep of the high jump championship, with Shane Connell winning the event title with a clearance of 2.00 meters. Connell has now finished either first or second in the event at six straight meets, dating back to the 2021 Lee Last Chance Meet.
Freshman Tytiana Wilson recorded her first career event win, winning the 400 meter run with a new personal best time of 57.98 seconds. Wilson also set a new personal best in the 200 meter run, finishing second with a time of 25.94 seconds.
In all, the Eagles recorded, 27 top-10 finishes and nine personal bests.
In his first singles race as a Carson-Newman Eagle, Lotharp just missed out on the top-10 in the 100-meter run, finishing 11th with a time of 11.31 seconds. Emmanuel Olaluyi made his debut for the Eagles in the event, finishing with a time 12.81 seconds.
Boya finished third in the 200-meter run, recording a new personal best time of 21.90.
Raymond Brugmans wrapped up his solid weekend in Black Mountain with a second place finish in the 800 meter run with a time of 1:58.05. It is his highest finish ever in the event. Christian Henry finished ninth in the event, finishing the race with a time of 2:03.27. Brett Lord ran the 800-meter for the first time in his career, finishing with a time of 2:14.78.
Matthew Blackmon finished second in the 110 meter hurdles, finishing the race with a time of 15.07. The freshman has finished on the podium in the event in back-to-back meets.
The men's 4x400 relay team of Boya, Taylor Dupler, KJ Laribo, and Raymond Brugmans finished third with a time of 3:29.50.
Christian Shouse finished behind Connell in the high jump at second place with a clearance of 1.95 meters. His teammate Oluwafemi Richards finished fifth in his first time ever competing in the high jump with a mark of 1.85 meters.
Courtavious Garrett finished third in the triple jump with a distance of 13.69 meters. Richards also competed in the triple jump, finishing ninth with a distance of 12.59 meters. Camden Fritz finished right behind him at tenth with a jump of 12.47 meters.
Ian Salyer set two more personal best marks this weekend, first with a seventh place finish in the shot put with a toss of 13.16 meters. Josh Malloy recorded his first career top-10 finish in the event, finishing ninth with a toss of 12.87 meters.
Salyer also finished seventh in the discus with a throw of 42.30 meters, another personal best mark.
On the women's side, Tia Davis recorded her second straight top-five finish in the 100-meter run, finishing fourth with a time of 12.65 seconds. Davis also finished fourth in the 200-meter run with a time of 26.19 seconds.
Lauren Tabor ran the 200-meter run for the first time in her career, finishing inside the top-20 with a time of 27.56 seconds. She also set a personal best in the 400-meter run, finishing ninth with a time of 1:02.38.
Rachel Strayer set another personal best this weekend with another top-10 finish, finishing sixth in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:21.53. Her teammate Imke Van Gog ran the event for the first time in her young career in Mossy Creek, finishing with a time of 2:41.89.
Morgan Bailey set a new personal best in the 400 meter hurdles, finishing sixth with a time of 1:09.47. Bailey has recorded four straight top-10 finishes in the event.
Morgan Stanton finished tied for sixth in the high jump with a clearance of 1.49 meters. This is her sixth straight top-10 finish in the event.
Sydney McCarty did not miss a beat on day two of the Montreat Invitational, finishing eighth in the triple jump with a distance of 10.88 meters.
Rachel Hickey threw the discus over 30 meters for the first time in her career, throwing a personal best toss of 30.48 meters.
In the team standings, the Carson-Newman men finished second with 105 points while the women finished third with 76.5 points. Montreat won the men's team championship with 124 points while UNC-Asheville won the women's championship with 138 points.
The Eagles will take next week off to prepare for the Lee Flames Invitational on Apr. 8-9 in Cleveland, Tenn. Fans can follow the action online at cneagles.com