VIDEO: David Needs Interview 

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn.— Carson-Newman track and field coach David Needs released his team's 2016-17 indoor season slate earlier Monday morning which featured five treks to the Tar Heel State with three more to The Old Dominion.

Coming off the most successful indoor campaign in program history, Needs felt it a necessity to get his team and athletes back in the spotlight with hopes of building on three national qualifiers a year ago.

"We wanted to go to places that would be good for our athletes and places to where they could succeed and to qualify for nationals," Needs said. "In track and field, that's basically what it boils down to. How you get ranked and how you finish is the basis of getting to nationals."

The Indoor slate features 10 meets with hopes of taking the entire team to at least four showcases. The remaining six invitationals will welcome the likes of Eagles who are on pace to reach the 2017 NCAA Division II Indoor Track & Field Championships.

Beginning with the JDL Kickoff Classic on Dec. 3, Carson-Newman will venture the bulk of its roster to Winston-Salem and to Johnson City's ETSU Classic on Jan. 13 to kick off the season. The next five meets will be selection showcases back at JDL, ETSU and at Liberty University throughout the greater portion of Jan. and early Feb.

The Eagles will then wrap up the indoor campaign with two more team meets at the JDL Team Challenge and Liberty Elite before its final tune-up at the Camel City Invitational on Feb. 18. Carson-Newman hopes to again make the voyage to the NCAA Division II Indoor Track & Field Championships, and if so, the meet will take place in Birmingham, Ala. on March 10.

"The idea of us this season is to go to the places like JDL where our athletes have a chance to run against the very best," Needs said.

With the season quickly approaching, the Eagles have the fortune of returning three key contributors from last year's squad.  

The aforementioned trio of 2016 indoor national qualifiers consisted of sprinter Kevin Snead (Richmond, Va.), pole vaulter Tori Gaul (Salisbury, N.C.) and high jumper Tanner Stepp (Jefferson City, Tenn.). Both Stepp (6^th-place) and Snead (10^th-place) reached the podium with All-American plaques in 2016 while Gaul represented Carson-Newman as the first woman-ever to reach the indoor championships.

Stepp, being the most decorated track and field athlete in Carson-Newman history, continued the pace during his sophomore campaign for the Eagles with two more All-American honors. The local product reset both indoor and outdoor school records in the high jump on the year after posting the previous-highs as a true freshman the year before. The high jumper leaped a career indoor-high at the Camel City Classic on January 29 with a 2.14 mark.

As a sophomore, Stepp placed sixth-overall in the event at the 2016 NCAA Division II Indoor Track & Field Championships and fourth a few months later at the Outdoor Championships. The high jumper was named the Southeast Region Field Athlete of the Year by the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association for the indoor season a year ago and his 2.14 meters was the highest in all of the Southeast Region.

Snead inked his name in the Carson-Newman record book on a number of occasions during his first season at Mossy Creek. The dual-sport athlete was named the fastest man in college football by the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association after breaking program records in the 60, 100 and 200 meter dashes over the course of both the indoor and outdoor campaigns. The sprinter reeled in All-American honors in each event during the seasons and was named C-N's Male Newcomer of the Year at the annual Frosty Awards Ceremony to cap off the year in May of 2016.

The then junior college transfer competed in the 60 meter dash during the indoor campaign a season ago for the Eagles and did so by running a program-best 6.77 seconds in the event at the UCS Invitational on Feb. 20. Snead was C-N's first-ever automatic qualifier to the NCAA Division II Indoor Track & Field Championships and finished the event with a 10^th-place showing of 6.81 seconds. The successful indoor season also resulted in an All-Southeast Region selection for Snead in the 60 meter dash.

Gaul extended both the C-N woman pole vaulting records during her sophomore campaign on numerous occasions. The second-year Eagle made two treks to the NCAA Division II Track and Field Championships and was selected to both the indoor and outdoor All-Southeast Region teams for her performances throughout the year.

During the indoor slate, Gaul made it as high as the eighth-ranked pole vaulter in all of Division II. The Salisbury, N.C. native's best leap came in the final tune-up before postseason play at the UCS Invitational on Feb. 20 with a 3.90 meter mark. The sophomore DNS'd at the 2016 Indoor Championships.

The South Atlantic Conference (outdoor) and Southeast Region women's pole vault champion (indoor and outdoor) was also named to the CoSIDA Academic All-District first team by season's end for her part in the classroom.  

All three athletes are returning this winter with hopes of reaching even higher heights in their respective careers. With the trio leading the pack, Needs believes this season will also open the door for a number of newcomers into national consideration as well.

"We have a couple of athletes who are right on the cusp of being great, too many to name to be honest," Needs said. "Timontrez Eady (Duval County, Fla.), T.J. Davis (Chattanooga, Tenn.) are close and we hope that happens this season. Tiana Mills (Chattanooga, Tenn.) qualified for the outdoors last year and she has improved. Marshall Shank (Granite Quarry, N.C.) is close and we have so many young and talented guys who are here working hard to be great."

Stay tuned into Carson-Newman's indoor campaign by following the Eagles on twitter at @CN_Track and online at cneagles.com.

Carson-Newman 2016-17 Indoor Track & Field Schedule

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