Hickory, N.C.—  Just a week removed from completing All-American indoor seasons, Tanner Stepp (Jefferson City, Tenn.) and Kevin Snead (Richmond, Va.) provisionally qualified in their first outdoor meet of the season as the duo led Carson-Newman at the Power Sox Invitational Saturday afternoon at the Iren Belk Track.

"It's not like indoor where you have a lot of teams competing. In outdoor, you have about six or seven schools all trying to compete and do well," coach David Needs said. "Today was a typical first outdoor meet of the season with the cold and rainy conditions but the team battled and got some things done."

Snead provisionally qualified in the men's 100m dash following a first-place finish of 10.56 seconds. The junior also recorded the fastest 200m dash time in Carson-Newman history after completing another first-place time of 21.51 seconds in the event.

Stepp's provisionally qualification came in the men's high jump. The sophomore picked up right where he left off a year ago where the jumper recorded a ninth-place finish at the 2015 NCAA Division II Outdoor Track and Field Championships with a 2.11m leap in the sophomore's outdoor debut.

Other Carson-Newman athletes who recorded first-place showing on the day included T.J. Davis (Chattanooga, Tenn.) and Lachlan Dickie (Knoxville, Tenn.).

Davis completed the men's long jump with a 6.83m mark and Dickie wrapped up the men's 5000m run with a 15:38.25 time.

On the women's side, two athletes tallied first-place finishes. Tori Gaul (Salisbury, N.C.) stretched her success she had in the indoor season with a 3.50m tally in the women's pole vault. Tianna Mills (Chattanooga, Tenn.) also placed first in the women's triple jump with an 11.54m mark.  

All in all, Carson-Newman 49 top-eight finishes on the day that spanned across 17 events. The seven individual wins is a good start to the season, but according to Needs, there is still a lot to improve on.

"There were a lot of good things we felt real good about leaving Hickory with today, but we have a lot of things that we need to work on in order to get better and to reach our team goal," Needs said. "We are happy with today but know we can do better."

Carson-Newman fielded a large number of participants in the Eagles' 2016 outdoor debut at the Power Sox Invitational on Saturday, many of which competed in multiple events on the day.

"A lot of people stepped up by running and competing real hard today," Needs said. "Tori Gaul competed in the javelin throw for only the second time in her career. Matt Rust competed in a number of events and probably had one of his best days of his career. Lachlan Dickie had a solid day. We have a lot to be proud of but there is still a lot to improve on."

The Eagles will split their squad next weekend on March 25 and 26 as Carson-Newman athletes will be represented at both the Wingate and Shorter Invites.

Keep up with Carson-Newman track and field by following @CN_Track on twitter and staying up to date on cneagles.com.

Long Jump

3) Samantha Gudger 4.97m

5) Tiana Mills 4.93m

8) Cassie Kowalski J4.82m

12) Erika Zackery 4.53m

Pole Vault

1) Tori Gaul 3.50m

2) Cassie Kowalski 3.00m

Discus Throw

6) Tiana Mills 33.93m

11) Christianna Smith 25.25m

13) Jasmine Johnson 18.59m

High Jump

2) Samantha Gudger 1.60m

Triple Jump

1) Tiana Mills 11.54m

Shot Put

5) Christianna Smith 10.11m

13) Jasmine Johnson 7.09m

Javelin Throw

2) Tori Gaul 31.71m

4) Erika Zackery 28.82m

9) Christianna Smith 22.52m

3000m Steeplechase

2) Jennifer Warren 13:55.39

3) Amber Farmer 13:57.15

1500m Run

2) Priscah Jemeli 5:05.85

5) Sarah Sharp 5:09.46

6) Hannah Green 5:11.99

10) Ashlyne Page 5:23.64

12) Sky McCarter 5:28.47

20) Rebekah White 5:42.11

400m Dash

4) Madison Pickel 1:01.76

100m Hurdles

8) Samantha Gudger 17.17 seconds

100m Dash

12) Briana Hunter 13.76 seconds

13) Jessica Capron 13.77 seconds

14) Cassie Smith 13.78 seconds

800m Run

3) Sarah Sharp 2:28.37

5) Priscah Jemeli 2:30.34

7) Kathie O'Neill 2:32.36

16) Aiyana Martino 2:39.53

21) Ashlyne Page 2:46.28

200m Dash

4) Samantha Gudger 27.11 seconds

4) Shauntae Miller 27.11 seconds

9) Madison Pickel 27.56 seconds

11) Cassie Smith 27.74 seconds

13) Jessica Capron 28.05 seconds

5000m Run

3) Sara Honaker 20:29.83

4 X 400m Relay

3) Carson-Newman 'A' 4:28.85

1. Madison Pickel

2. Samantha Gudger

3. Jessica Capron

4. Shauntae Miller

Long Jump

1) T.J. Davis 6.83m

2) Ray Artybridge 6.75m

3) Timontrez Eady 6.63m

10) Jason Williams 5.89m

Discus Throw

9) Lee Wells 33.11m

13) Jonathan Mason 30.23m

15) Roy Collins 28.64m

18) Darius Morris 27.65m

High Jump

1) Tanner Stepp 2.11m

3) Christian Stumpf 1.95m

4) T.J. Davis 1.75m

5) Celmen Ballamy 1.70m

Triple Jump

2) T.J. Davis 13.63m

Shot Put

6) Lee Wells 11.56m

10) Roy Collins 11.10m

11) Darius Morris 10.91m

16) Jonathon Mason 9.15m

Javelin Throw

10) Lee Wells 36.41m

13) Christian Stumpf 32.33m

14) Lonnie Williams 29.46m

3000m Steeplechase

3) Alec Bross 11:52.26

4 X 400m Relay

3) Carson-Newman 'B' 43.39 seconds

1. Matt Rust

2. D.J. Luster

3. Jonathan Stovall

4. Cole Potter

1500m Run

3) Luke Greer 4:18.69

12) Joshua Marsh 4:32.54

16) Kellan Sabol 4:37.05

400m Dash

4) Christian Stumpf 51.28 seconds

5) Kristofer Potts-Howard 51.42 seconds

8) Jeremiah McCarter 52.68 seconds

9) Matthew Melton 53.07 seconds

10) Ray Tiller 54.18 seconds

12) Colin Smith 55.21 seconds

16) Aaron Seward 58.77 seconds

100m Dash

1) Kevin Snead 10.56 seconds

7) Timontrez Eady 10.97 seconds

16) Cole Potter 11.41 seconds

20) D.J. Luster 11.59 seconds

21) Jason Williams 11.62 seconds

28) Darius Morris 11.81 seconds

31) Jonathon Stovall 12.20 seconds

800m Run

6) Anthony Jackson 2:01.91

11) Joshua Marsh 2:08.35

18) Colin Smith 2:17.55

400m Hurdles

2) Aaron Seward 58.83 seconds

200m Dash

1) Kevin Snead 21.51 seconds

6) Matt Rust 22.54 seconds

13) D.J. Luster 23.31 seconds

15) Kristofer Potts-Howard 23.41 seconds

17) Ray Artybridge 23.53 seconds

18) Cole Potter 23.57 seconds

24) Matthew Melton 24.04 seconds

5000m Run

1) Lachlan Dickie 15:38.25

4 X 400m Relay

2) Carson-Newman 'A' 3:27.14

1. Matt Rust

2. Anthony Jackson

3. Ray Tiller

4. Aaron Seward

-CN-