Interview: David Needs

ROCK HILL, S.C.—The Carson-Newman men's track and field team was picked to finish third in the  South Atlantic Conference for the 2016 outdoor season the league announced Tuesday afternoon in the annual preseason polls.

The Eagles received two first-place votes from coaches around the league and totaled 41 points in the voting.

"Every year, it's great to be valued by your opponents in being good and part of that could be because we have been doing this awhile," coach David Needs said. "Also, we don't have to accept where we are now. We just know that there is work that comes with it."

Carson-Newman placed fourth in the SAC Track and Field Championships a year ago with Randall Freeman taking home Field Athlete of the Year Honors.  

Kevin Snead (Richmond, Va.), Lachlan Dickie (Knoxville, Tenn.) and Tanner Stepp (Jefferson City, Tenn.) were also named to the conference's watch list for the sprint, distance and field events.

Snead finished 10th in the 2016 NCAA Track & Field Indoor Championships in the men's 60m dash and made it as high as fourth in the nation over the course of the indoor season. The sprinter is C-N's current record holder for the event with a 6.77 second time and was named to the 2016 All-Southeast Region team for indoor track and field.

In the first outdoor meet of the 2016 season, Snead provisionally qualified in the men's 100 meter dash as the junior completed a first-place time of 10.56 seconds. The sprinter also notched a first-place time in the men's 200 meter dash after finishing the race with a time of 21.51 seconds which broke a 40-year Carson-Newman program record in the event.

Dickie was 2015 All-Southeast selection in cross country this past fall, following a 34:16.4 second time in the 10K regional sector for a 17^th-place finish. At the Power Sox Invitational a week ago, Dickie wrapped up the men's 5000m run with a 15:38.25 time which was good enough for a first-place finish.

Stepp is a three-time Southeast Region selectee and is Carson-Newman's record holder in the men's high jump at 2.14m (indoor) and 2.10m (outdoor). The jumper just completed a sixth-place showing at the 2016 NCAA Track & Field Indoor Championships and is  a three-time USTFCCCA All-American (two-time indoor, one outdoor). 

Last weekend's Power Sox Invitational saw Stepp jump out to another hot start to the outdoor campaign with a provisional qualification in the men's high jump where the sophomore picked up a first-place leap of 2.11 meters.

Queens top the standings in being picked as the preseason favorites with five first-place votes and Wingate came in at second with forty-seven total points at No. 2.

Carson-Newman will be at it again this weekend on March 26 as the bulk of the squad will head to the Shorter Invite while Needs will also send the team's pole vaulters to the Winthrop Adidas Invitational.

2016 Preseason Poll (First-Place Votes) - Points

1.       Queens (5)                             54

2.       Wingate                                 47

3.       Carson-Newman (2)           41

          Mars Hill                            41

5.       Lenoir-Rhyne                     35

6.       Anderson                            27

7.       Coker                                  17

8.       Lincoln Memorial              13

9.       Brevard                               5

-CN-