HICKORY, N.C.- Carson-Newman wrapped up its second trip to Lenoir-Rhyne and third meet of the season on Saturday, April 6 following the L-R classic from the Irwin Belk Track at The Moretz Sports Athletic Complex.
Cameron McKinley took home the victory in the 3000-meter Steeplechase for the Eagles with a time of 9:53.30, nearly 15 seconds better than the next best time from Tusculum runner Kyler Hodges and marks a new personal best by over 12 seconds. Kelvin Ronoh rounded out the top three at 10:25.82.
Caleb Agee was tabbed the winner in the 400-meter hurdles for the second time this season with a time of 54.57 seconds, his lowest time thus far in the outdoor campaign.
Tia Davis, who earned the league's Track Athlete of the Week on Tuesday, finished first in the 200-meter dash, winning the event in every meet in which she's competed after a time of 25.05 seconds. The time for Davis is a new career-best at Mossy Creek, a mark which previously stood at 25.34 seconds. The time is also a new program record as Davis topped Ciara Henderson's mark of 25.27 seconds that was set in 2018.
Davis also turned in a spot in fourth in the 100-meter dash with a sprint of 12.28 seconds.
With three first-place finishes on Saturday, it adds to C-N's total of 22 victories through three meets in 2019.
"It was a good day, not a great day obviously it didn't compare to last week," Coach David Needs said. "From a day of consistency, certainly not bad but some athletes improved this weekend. For a lot of those who didn't improve this weekend, they know what they need to do from here on out when we return in two weeks. Right now, it is just about putting it all together when we head into next week."
Hickory will also be the site of the 2019 SAC Outdoor Championships slated for April 18-20.
Three Eagles finished in the top-seven in the Javelin with Christian Stumpf leading the way 51.27 meters which was good for second overall. Ross Ensley came in at No. 4 with a throw of 46.01 meters followed by Zeke Vance in seventh at 43.16 meters.
]Amy Zadroga grabbed second-place for C-N in the Javelin throw with a mark of 36.22 meters. Madison Bunch (28.44m) and Shelby Reynolds (26.78m) rounded out the top-eight in the event respectively. Later on in the day, the sophomore Zadroga posted a third-place mark in the pole vault clearing 3.30 meters.
In her second meet of the outdoor season, Kathie O'Neill reset the program record in the 3000-meter steeplechase with a second-place time at 11:16.45.
Jess Bumgardner finished at No. 18 in the hammer throw with a toss of 32.07 meters, a new personal-best as an Eagle by nearly three meters. Austin Gramann was the leading thrower in the event for the Eagles at 39.27m followed by Draven Green at 37.98m.
The No. 1 long jump group in Division II came away with second, third, and fifth-place finishes in the event. This past weeks Field Athlete of the Week for the South Atlantic Conference Kristofer Potts-Howard finished in second clearing 7.08 meters. Jahvad McDermott followed up the senior with a jump of 7.05 meters followed by Ray Artybidge who rounded out the top-five at 6.79 meters.
The men's triple jump saw James Wilson and Potts-Howard earn the second and third-place spots respectively with Wilson at 14.51 meters edging Potts-Howard at 14.50m.
Skye McCarter grabbed fourth-place in the 1500-meter run with a time of 5:00.59 followed by Amy Davidson rounding out the top-eight at 5:13.38. The mark for McCarter is just under three seconds lower than her previous best.
Klara Naude finished with a sixth-place time in the 800-meter run at 2:24.34. On the men's side, Brandon McKinley came in at No. 9 with a time of 2:01.70.
Logan Pender collected a seventh-place finish for C-N the shot put with a mark of 13.36 meters. Abby Tomkoski churned in a fourth-place finish in the triple jump after clearing 10.63 meters.
C-N will return to competition for the Western Carolina Invitational from Cullowhee, N.C. next weekend on April 13-14. Cneagles.com will have the preview of the meet for you next week.
