LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Two weeks after opening the season at the ETSU Invitational, the Eagles return to the track at the Tiger Paw Invite in Louisville, Ky. on Friday, Jan. 28.
Carson-Newman will compete against 22 other programs, including Division-I Bellarmine, SAC rival Lincoln Memorial, nationally ranked Division-III Centre, and NAIA schools including hosts Campbellsville and Georgetown College.
The Eagles are coming off their season debut two weeks ago at the ETSU Invitational. Freshman Matthew Blackmon made a splash in his first two races of his college career, resetting the then four-year old record in the 60 meter hurdles in the prelims with a time of 8.64 seconds. Blackmon came back the 28 hours late with a first-place finish in the finals and another school record time of 8.41 seconds in his first career event championship. Blackmon enters the event as the four seed in the 60 meter hurdles.
After missing the 2021 indoor season due to injury, Christian Shouse won his first event in almost two years, winning the long jump championship at the ETSU Invitational with a jump of 7.00 meters. For his efforts, Shouse was named SAC Indoor Male Track Athlete of the Week for Jan. 18, his third career honor.
✅ Event champion
— Carson-Newman Athletics (@CN_Eagles) January 18, 2022
✅ @SAC_Athletics Indoor Field Athlete of the week
Not bad for your first week back in almost two years.
Christian Shouse earns his third career SAC Indoor Field Athlete of the Week honor @CN_Track
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The highly doubted Carson-Newman sprints squad made their mark in the first meet of the season, recording four provisional marks. Makanakaishe Charamba finished second in the 60 meter run with a time of 6.81 seconds, 13th fastest in all of Division-II. Charamba also set a qualifying mark in the 200 meter run with a third place finish with a time of 21.51 seconds, the 10th fastest time in Division-II.
Devon Moore set a provisional mark in the 60 meter run for the third straight season, finishing third at 6.84 seconds. Moore's mark ranks 22nd in all of Division-II. Sterling Melancon's mark of 6.85 seconds in the event is 27th in Division-II. Charamba, Moore and Melancon enter the Tiger Paw Invite as the top three seeds in the 200 meter and 60 meter dash.
In the men's 400 meter run, Siphosethu Boya enters the event as the two seed after finishing second in the event at the BSC Icebreaker with a time of 49.74 seconds.
Shane Connell earned the top seed in the high jump this weekend after finishing second at the ETSU Invitational with a clearance of 1.98 meters. Teammate Sam Cleek is the five seed after a clearance of 1.95 meters and a fourth place finish in Johnson City.
On the women's side, Tia Davis enters as the one seed in the 60 meter run and as the two seed in the 200 meter run. Davis finished seventh in her first race of the season in the 60 meter run with a time of 7.85 seconds and finished fourth in the 200 meter run with a time of 25.86 seconds.
Timaya Ray enters as the third seed in the 200 meter run. Ray finished 11th at ETSU in the event with a time of 26.44 seconds.
Imke Van Gog and Katie Smock enter as the one and two seeds in the 3000 meter run. Van Gog made her C-N debut in the mile two weeks ago with a time of 6:10.97. Smock finished eighth in the 5000 meter run two weeks ago with a time of 19:19.87.
Abby Owens and Marlee Baker enter as the two and three seeds in the pole vault. Owens finished fourth inside the Buc Dome with a clearance of 3.00 meters.
Several Eagles will make their season debuts in Louisville. Nathalie Shumacher will compete in the high jump for the first time this season. Schumacher has never finished lower than sixth in the high jump in her career and won the event championship at the KMS Invitational and Buccaneer Invitational in 2021.
Raymond Brugmans will compete in the 800 meter run for the first time this season. Brugmans finished inside the top-15 in the event in six of the last seven races he's competed in. Brugmans won the mile event championship at the 2021 Run As Fast As You Can meet.
Klara Naude will compete for the first time since the 2020 SAC Indoor Championships in the 600 meter and 800 meter runs. Naude missed the 2021 season due to COVID-19 travel restrictions in her native South Africa. Naude finished fourth in the 800 meter run at the SAC Championships and won the event at the 2019 Bast-Cregger Invitational.
The event begins at 11:00 AM on Friday, Jan. 28. Fans can follow along with a live stats link at cneagles.com or with live updates via Twitter at @cn_eagles.
