WINSTON SALEM, N.C. – A barrage of finals Saturday saw Carson-Newman track and field capture five podium finishes as Christian Shouse (Jacksboro, Tenn) earned a pair of conference accolades to highlight the weekend during the South Atlantic Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships.
Across both divisions, the Eagles finished in fourth place with a total of 90 points for the men and 51 for the women. C-N was one of three teams to finish in the top-4 in both fields, with Queens earning the top spot in both ranks and Lenoir-Rhyne finishing second and third, respectively.
Saturday's action at the JDL Fast Track in the Tar Heel State began in the field as Shouse earned the top spot on the podium in the high jump with a height of 2.05m. Four of the top five athletes in the event were Eagles, with runner-up Christian Stumpf (Jefferson City, Tenn.) checking in at two meters even. EJ Smith placed fourth for the Eagles at 1.95m, while Danilo Cardoso (Brazil) finished fifth with a height of 1.90m.
Shouse on Friday claimed his first conference championship in the long jump – a mark of 7.36m bested teammate Theo Devillard (France) by over three-tenths of a meter who finished second at 7.00m even. The freshman also earned bronze in the pole vault during day one of competition with a height of 4.32m.
Joining Shouse in earning a pair of gold medals on the weekend was none other than junior sprinter Devon Moore (Baxley, Ga.), who won his first two indoor championships in convincing fashion. In a span of a few hours, Moore racked up the hardware once more with an SAC indoor-championships record in the 60 with a speed of 6.76 seconds. Following up a victory in the 60, Moore blew through the competition in the 200-meter dash with a time of 21.73 – a full two-tenths faster than second place.
It is fourth and fifth time that Moore has finished first in the finals in the 2019-20 indoor season.
Other medalists Saturday include Nathalie Schumacher (Germany), who in the high jump nearly matched her personal best for a height of 1.66m – earning Bronze in a stacked field against the Women's Field Athlete of the Year in Queens' Jenny Koehne.
On the opening day of action, freshmen Abby Owens (Ocala, Fla.) and Marlee Baker (Morristown, Tenn.) claimed two spots on the podium, as Owens earned her first conference championship with a mark of 3.25m – her second best height of the indoor season. Baker's 2.95m height earned her bronze.
In the women's 5000 meters Friday, the distance standout Rachel Strayer (Chattanooga, Tenn.) earned bronze with a time of 17:55.92, her first medal at the indoor conference championships in her two campaigns as an Eagle. Saturday, the sophomore came across the stripe tenth in the 3000 meters.
Other notable finishes include Logan Pender (Gauteng, Ga.), who finished fifth in the men's shot put with a mark of 13.53m. In the women's section of the 60, junior Amanda Lowe (Jefferson City, Tenn.) picked up a fifth-place finish with a time of 7.84 seconds.
Saturday's 800 meters saw Klara Naude (South Africa) finish mere feet away from third place, earning fourth with a time of 2:24.10. Sophomore sprinter Abby Hegarty earned fifth in the 200-meter dash with a personal best of 25.86. Freshman Courtavious Garrett (Greenwood, Fla.) also earned fifth in the men's triple jump with a leap of 13.26m.
In two weeks, a handful of athletes for C-N will make the trek down to Birmingham, Ala. for the NCAA Division II Indoor Track and Field Championships. Continued track and field action moves outdoors when the team travels to Hickory, N.C. on March 20-21.
A full list of awards for C-N can be found below:
Freshman Male Athlete of the Year
Men's Field Athlete of the Meet
First Place
Devon Moore, 60-meter dash
Devon Moore, 200-meter dash
Abby Owens, Pole Vault
Christian Shouse, high jump
Christian Shouse, long jump
Christian Shouse, pole vault
Second Place
Theo Devillard, long jump
Christian Stumpf, high jump
Third Place
Marlee Baker, pole vault
Nathalie Schumacher, high jump
Rachel Strayer, 5000 meters
