JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn.- Carson-Newman track and field is headed to the two-day 2024 South Atlantic Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships this Saturday Feb. 24 in Winston-Salem, N.C.
"We had a team meeting yesterday, and I said something I usually don't say," head track and field coach David Needs said. "I told them to win. Of course, we always want to win, but that's the most important thing at a conference championship. This is the one meet, aside from nationals, where time and distance don't matter as much as beating others from the conference. We want to win this week, so we have to shift our focus more toward how each individual can help push the team up in those rankings".
Carson-Newman track and field will be back in action this weekend after a week off of competition. The Eagles will head to Winston-Salem, N.C. to compete in the 2024 SAC Indoor Track and Field Championships. The conference meet will begin Saturday, Feb. 24 at 10:00 a.m. with pentathlon and heptathlon events. Track and field events will begin at 1:15 p.m. On Sunday, Feb. 25, competition will continue at 10:30 a.m. The full meet schedule can be found HERE.
"As we head into this meet, we are using an example from the Bible," Needs said. "When David went to fight Goliath, he didn't stand his ground. He didn't walk towards Goliath or even jog toward him. He sprinted toward Goliath. The task ahead was large, but the intention was larger. We want to be so committed this week to our principles of getting after it and honoring God that we aren't going to walk into this challenge. We are going to sprint into this challenge this week".
The Eagles are heading into the championships after a week off from competition. The last time the team competed was the weekend of Friday, Feb. 9 when the Eagles traveled to both the VMI Winter Classic and Joe LaRocco Invitational.
"One of the things we try to do is take a week off," Needs said. "We want to make sure everyone is healthy because we are now prepping for the conference meet and nationals at the same time".
At last year's SAC Indoor Track and Field Championships, C-N track and field finished third and fourth. The men's track and field team finished in third place with 69 points. Wingate placed first, and Lenoir-Rhyne came in second. In total, 12 men's teams competed at the championships. The men's distance medley team secured bronze in 10:27.23 at the meet.
"I'm excited to see our distance team compete this weekend," Needs said. "They've come so far in just a matter of weeks. They really gel together well".
The women's track and field team placed fourth with 70 points. Wingate, Lenoir-Rhyne, and Catawba secured the top-three spots on the podium. In the women's 400-meter dash, Tytiana Wilson placed second in 56.87. In the 60-meter hurdles finals, Kadidja Sangare secured a second-place finish in 8.79. Sade De Sousa also snagged silver in the 60-meter dash finals with a time of 7.42 seconds. De Sousa rounded out the top-five in 200-meter dash in 25.62. In the women's long jump, Sangare stood out again with a second-place finish and 5.89-meter leap.
"We are so proud of so many of our athletes. They've done well last year and so far this year. Now, we've got to be strategic," Needs said. "For example, we could have put Sade in the 200, and she would have probably scored this meet. Our focus is also on trying to get her to nationals, though. She's right there on the edge of going. On the women's side, we've also got Tytiana. She's got a great opportunity to win the 400 meters. This is an opportunity for her to take that next step and to win".
This will be on of the last opportunities for athletes to qualify for the 2024 DII Indoor Track & Field Championships. The national meet will take place in Pittsburg, Kan. and is set to begin on Friday, Mar. 8.
"For our athletes to push nationals, it will partly be from the competition this week," Needs said. "We are running against the best in our conference, and our conference does pretty well nationally. We will have people there to push us. Our sprint conference is as good as it gets in Division II. To be able to compete in a situation like this, it allows us to get after it and run the kind of times we need to".
The Eagles are back in action for the last meet of the 2023-24 indoor track and field season this Saturday, Feb. 24. Stay up to date on cneagles.com.
