JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – An opportunity for Carson-Newman track and field awaits selected members of the team as they make the trip to Lexington, Va. for the VMI Indoor Classic on Feb. 14-15.
Due to limitations placed on the amount of athletes C-N could bring, head coach David Needs had to be creative with his list of entries into the weekend's proceedings hosted by the Keydets. Altogether, 10 men and 12 women will head to the Commonwealth State for the team's first meet since the beginning of the month at the Buccaneer Invitational.
A swath of teams are expected to be in attendance, including South Atlantic Conference members Queens and Lenoir-Rhyne, as well as Division I talents such as Richmond, Virginia Tech and Seton Hall.
"You want to put your athletics on great surfaces against great competition and that's what this is," Needs said.
The approximately 550-mile round trip between Mossy Creek and VMI is the longest road trip of the indoor season for C-N. The newly-established Corps Physical Training Facility is home to a hydraulically banked 200-meter track oval with eight lanes, with the infield holding field events for pole vault and horizontal jumping.
This weekend will mark the first time in program history that the Eagles have competed at VMI.
"It's another place for (other programs) to see what Carson-Newman is all about," Needs said. "For us, to be able to go here and compete against Division I competition is really an important chance for us to sell who we are as a team."
For the men, sprinters Devon Moore (Baxley, Ga.) and Toot Johnson (Rincon, Ga.) will highlight the Eagles' efforts in the 60-meter dash. A check of the weekend's performance list sees both Eagles in the top-6 times for Friday's prelims.
Both Caleb Agee (Floyd, Va.) and Trevor Elliott (Cumming, Ga.) will run the 400-meters, while graduate distance runner Conal McCambridge (United Kingdom) will participate in the 5k.
Jumpers for the men throughout the weekend include triple jumper Cortavious Garrett (Greenwood, Fla.), long jumper Theo Devillard (France) and high jumper Danilo Cardoso (Brazil).
Freshman multis athlete Christian Shouse (Jacksboro, Tenn.) will participate in the long jump, high jump and 4x400 meter relay alongside Agee, Elliott and Christian Stumpf (Johnson City, Tenn.).
Pole vault will open up the women's weekend of events for C-N with the trio Amy Zadroga (Tolland, Conn.), Abby Owens (Ocala, Fla.) and Marlee Baker (Morristown, Tenn.) set for 2 p.m.
The pair of Tia Davis (Chattanooga, Tenn.) and Amanda Lowe (Jefferson City, Tenn.) will run the 60 prelims, while Faith Nelms (St. Petersburg, Fla.) and sophomore Abby Hegarty will participate in the 400 meters.
Sophomore Klara Naude (South Africa) will compete in the 800 Saturday.
High jumpers Nathalie Schumacher (Germany) and Hannah Beth Moorhouse (Morristown, Tenn.) are set for Friday at 5 p.m. with distance runner Rachel Strayer (Chattanooga, Tenn.) finishing the night with the 5k.
Saturday will feature more field events with Susan Nelson (Crossville, Tenn.) who will compete in the long jump.
A full rundown of the weekend's schedule can be found here, while live timing can be found here.
Check back at CNEagles.com with continued coverage of the weekend's events.
