Davis, Eady shine as Eagles impress as Appalachian Open

Posted: Dec 06, 2015

BOONE, N.C.—Two Carson-Newman records fell as the Eagles leaped their way through the Appalachian Open to begin the 2015-2016 indoor track schedule this weekend in Boone, N.C.

"To not have really trained a lot on the track over the fall, I think we took the positive steps to where we are positive in December," track and field coach David Needs said following the meet. "If we use this as our high-water mark, we are nowhere close, but to be where we are now is way better than where we were this time last year."

In a meet which featured competition from a variety of collegiate levels, Carson-Newman stood out as one of five Division II teams who made the trek to Appalachian State to compete in the season-opening eleven-team meet.

T.J. Davis (Chattanooga, Tenn.) broke his current Carson-Newman school record for the long jump, as the junior soared 7.18 meters in the event to claim the top slot in the standings. Timontrez Eady (Duval County, Fla.) also notched the program's previous best, jumping 7.15 meters to finish right behind Davis in second place.

Davis and Eady currently rank 13^th and 18^th, respectively, in all NCAA Divisions in the long jump, and third and seventh in Division II. Both jumpers have provisionally qualified for nationals in the event.

"With those two guys, you have a junior and a freshman that go out there and battle every time," Needs said. "The strength of a great track program is to have two good people that push each other, and that's what we had today. Every time one jumped well, the other would go out there and jump further. When those battles happen on your team, you know you are going in the right direction."

Sarah Sharp (Lewis Center, Ohio) also bested her previous school record in the 800 meter run, as the sophomore accomplished the feat in 2:28.26, which was good enough for seventh place overall.

Led by the trio in Davis, Eady and Sharp, Carson-Newman had eight top-10 finishes on the weekend.

The women accounted for five with Cassie Smith (Knoxville, Tenn.) in the 200m, Madison Pickel (Sevierville, Tenn.) in the 400m, Tori Gaul (Salisbury, N.C.) in the pole vault and Tiana Mills (Chattanooga, Tenn.) in the long jump. Kristofer Potts-Howard (Tullahoma, Tenn.) placed sixth in the long jump for the men and Eady piled on another top-10 finish in the 55m hurdles.

"We had a lot of people this weekend that recorded personal bests," Needs said. "Against some Division I schools and some other really good Division II schools, such as Queens who won our conference championship last year, we did real well and ran pretty fast."

Carson-Newman will take a month off for the Christmas holidays before taking part in competition again at ETSU on January 8^th.

For complete coverage of track and field and all of Carson Newman athletics, follow us on twitter at @CNathletics and log onto cneagles.com.

Carson-Newman Women Results

55 Meters

24. Cassie Smith 7.74

200 Meters

7. Cassie Smith 26.88

12. Madison Pickel 27.34

17. Jessica Capron 28.19

20. Brianna Hunter 28.48

400 Meters

9. Madison Pickel 1:00.37