JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn.- Carson-Newman track and field will attend the two-day Music City Challenge in Nashville, Tenn. and App State Open in Boone, N.C. this Friday, April 26 after adding a weekend of competition before the 2024 South Atlantic Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championships.
"We want to run fast this weekend, but we don't want to tire ourselves out," head track and field coach David Needs said. "We are really limiting our athletes to one event. We want to be healthy enough to run Wednesday and Thursday of next week. Of course, we want to do really well, but you don't want to do really well at the sake of your body. We want to run fast and jump far, but at the same time, we will be conscious of what the mission is ahead".
C-N track and field will split up for one final weekend before the upcoming SAC Championships beginning Wednesday, May 1 in Hickory, N.C. The sprinters will travel to the Music City Challenge in Nashville, Tenn. for a two-day meet beginning Friday, April 26. The Music City Challenge will be hosted by Vanderbilt, and the full meet schedule can be found HERE. Field events are set to begin at 12:00 p.m. on Friday, April 26. Running events will begin at 5:30 p.m. with the women's 200-meter dash. Live results can be found HERE.
"We're going to go over and run at Vandy against SEC-level competition," Needs said. "We just want to get a race or two in and get the relays squared away".
The Eagles will also travel to the App State Open in Boone, N.C. for a two-day meet beginning Friday, April 26. The jumpers will attend the meet hosted by Appalachian State University. The full meet schedule can be found HERE. Friday's events will begin with the javelin throw at 10:00 a.m. Live results can be found HERE.
"Our men's high jumpers and women's long jumpers will head to Appalachian State just to get one last mark before the conference meet," Needs said. "We want them to be fresh going into next Wednesday and Thursday.
The Eagles are coming off a successful outing at the Catamount Classic in Cullowhee, N.C. C-N track and field distance runners and javelin throwers set multiple personal records.
"To have our distance runners do as well as they did last week is a testimony to Coach Lee, and really, the senior leadership of that group," Needs said. "It was the same for our javelin group. To have so many get personal records was exciting. That group had so many people who went and did better than they have ever done at the meet last week. That's a great sign for our program".
The 2024 South Atlantic Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championships are set to begin this upcoming Wednesday, May 1. The split weekend will be the Eagles final weekend of competition before the conference meet.
"We're still about a month out from the end of the season," Needs said. "We're still going. What we need to do is stay healthy. We have to be fresh and be smart. We have to be ready".
Carson-Newman track and field is headed to the Music City Challenge in Nashville, Tenn. and App State Open in Boone, N.C. Stay up to date on cneagles.com.
