Convocation closes out regular season with hike to Hickory

HICKORY, N.C. - In the last full team event before the 2022 SAC Outdoor Championships, the Carson-Newman track & field team heads to Hickory, N.C. for the LR Bears Outdoor Open on Saturday, Apr. 23.

The one-day event begins at 10:30 A.M. at the Moretz Sports Complex with throwing events. The track will open for the 4x100 meter relays at noon. 

Historically, the Eagles have had success in Hickory. At the 2021 SAC Outdoor Championships, the Carson-Newman men's team finished third in the conference, thanks to multiple event wins and top-three finishes. 

Joseph Oreva and Courtavious Garrett took home first and second place in the men's long jump. Oreva won the event with a jump of 7.40 meters, while Garrett finished second with a jump of 7.16 meters. Garrett also finished seventh in the triple jump with a jump of 13.39 meters.

Meanwhile, Devon Moore continued his fantastic 2021 outdoor season, once again taking home gold at the SAC Outdoor Championships in the men's 200 meter run with a time of 20.78 seconds, his first ever outdoor conference championship.

This season, the no. 23 Carson-Newman men's team is coming off their best performance of the season, recording nine event wins at the Electric City Invitational. 

Charamba earned the men's outdoor track athlete of the week for the second straight week, after winning all three races he competed in for the second straight event. The freshman's day began with a bang as the men's 4x100 meter relay team of himself, PJ Lotharp, Tshenelo Lemao and Siphosethu Boya won the race with a time of 40.59 seconds. That mark is the twelfth fastest in all of Division-II, as the quartet record their third straight win in the event, defeating Lenoir-Rhyne by 0.77 seconds. 

The time is also a new school record, breaking the old mark set all the way back in 1976 of 40.70 seconds. The time was the second-oldest men's outdoor track record still standing before last week, lasting 46 years. 

Makanakaishe Charamba went on to win the 100-meter and 200-meter runs for the second straight week. The Harare, Zimbabwe native won the 100-meter run by 0.14 seconds over Marlin Davis of Lenoir-Rhyne with a time of 10.41 seconds. That time is a new personal best and moves Charamba to a tie for the eleventh fastest time in Division-II in the race with Phillip Landrum of Fort Hays State.

In the 200-meter run, the freshman won the race by 0.44 seconds, beating out Noah Meadows of Southern Wesleyan with a time of 20.87 seconds. Charamba has now won seven straight races he has competed in this outdoor season. 

For his accomplishments, Charamba earned back-to-back SAC outdoor men's track athlete of the week honors.

Courtavious Garrett earned his first career SAC outdoor men's field athlete of the week award after he picked up a pair of event championships this weekend, winning the long jump and triple jump championships in the Electric City. Garrett took home the long jump title with a distance of 7.12 meters, his second win of the season in the event.

He ended his day with his first career win in the triple jump with a personal best jump of 14.46 meters in the event. Garrett was the only competitor to clear 14 meters, beating out Nick Henriques of Lenoir-Rhyne by 0.58 meters. That mark also beats his old previous personal best by 0.22 meters. 

Last weekend also saw event wins from Boya, Matthew Blackmon, Shane Connell, and Trayzel Jureidini-Wyche on the men's side. 

Boya won the 400-meter run with a time of 47.65 seconds. That mark demolishes his old C-N personal best mark of 49.07 seconds by 1.42 seconds. That time is also an NCAA provisional mark, and is tied with Nolan Churchman of Fort Hays State for the 18th fastest time in Division-II. 

Connell got in on the action in the high jump, recording an NCAA provisional mark with a clearance of 2.05 meters. The Manchester, England native was the only jumper in the entire field to clear 2.00 meters. Connell has now won three straight and four of the last five event championships in the high jump. 

For the second time this season, Blackmon earned a win in the 110 meter hurdles. The freshman ran a personal best time of 14.71 seconds to earn the win. Blackmon is the first Carson-Newman men's hurdler to win multiple event championships in the race since Darius Childs did so in 2013. 

Jureidini-Wyche recorded his second win of the season in the discus with a toss of 49.21 meters. The senior has recorded eleven straight top-five finishes in the event dating back to the 2019 L-R Classic. 

On the women's side, the Eagles recorded two event wins at the Electric City Invitational in Anderson. 

Abby Owens earned her second event win of the outdoor season, winning the pole vault championship with a clearance of 3.50 meters. Owens was the only athlete to clear 3.25 meters, beating out Pearl Ballard of Lenoir-Rhyne, who cleared just 3.10 meters. The win is Owens' seventh of her career. 

Katie Smock won her first career race as an Eagle, winning the women's 10,000 meter run. The Kodak, Tenn. native won the race with a time of 41:33.81. Smock was honored as the first Carson-Newman women's track athlete to take home SAC women's track athlete of the week honors since Apr. 2, 2019. 

Fans can follow the action at the LR Bears Outdoor Open via a live video stream on the Bears Sports Network for free here. Updates will also be available on twitter at @cn_eagles.