JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. - A day after winning the prelims of the 60 meter hurdles by 0.10 seconds, Matthew Blackmon continued his dominant debut in Mossy Creek, winning the 60 meter hurdles event championship with a time by 8.20 seconds.
The mark is another reset of the school record by Blackmon, who has set or reset the school record in the event in five of the six career races he has competed in at Carson-Newman. Blackmon won the race in the finals by 0.17 seconds, beating out a pair of Division-I racers. The mark moves Blackmon into a three-way tie for the 31st fastest time in Dvision-II with Corey Perryman of UT-Tyler and Jordan Spencer of Adams State.
�� Yesterday was the first time in @Matthew_0708 career that he didn't set or reset the school record in the 60 meter hurdles. Today was a new day.
— Carson-Newman Athletics (@CN_Eagles) February 5, 2022
The freshman sets the record again and wins the event championship by 0.17 seconds @CN_Track
�� https://t.co/tlEIi6tqB2 pic.twitter.com/4aagP0V2WX
Carson-Newman recorded 12 top-10 finishes and 11 personal bests on the final day of the Buccaneer Invitational.
"At a meet like this one, where there are many opportunities, it is great to see some many people step up and perform well," says Director of Track & Field and Cross Country David Needs. "I am very pleased with our overall effort and great to see the continued development of this team. I thought we saw improvement in jumps, throws, sprints and distance this weekend."
Devon Moore finished second in the 60 meter run with a time of 6.84 seconds. Moore has now finished inside the top-eight of the event in 15 straight races dating back to the 2021 KMS Invitational.
Shane Connell and Christian Shouse both cleared 1.98 meters to finish second and third in the event. Connell earns the second place finish after clearing the mark on his first attempt. It's the third straight meet this season that Connell has finished second in the high jump. Teammate Sam Cleek finished tied for sixth after clearing 1.85 meters, his eleventh career top-eight finish in the event.
Cleek also led the Eagles in the men's pole vault, finishing sixth in the event with a clearance of 4.15 meters. Matthew Bretscher recorded his second straight top-10 finish, finishing tenth with a new personal best clearance of 4.00 meters.
Siphosethu Boya finished fifth in the 200 meter run finals with a new personal best time at Carson-Newman with a time of 21.98 seconds. Boya has recorded a top-eight finish in every event he has competed in at Carson-Newman this season.
Raymond Brugmans finished sixth in the 800 meter run with a time of 1:57.57. It's his sixth career top-eight finish in the event. Brugmans has been succesful inside of the Buc Dome, finishing inside the top-15 in every meet he's competed in at the venue in his career.
Harrison Sheeler finished seventh in the shot put, setting a new personal best with a toss of 14.05 meters. Teammate Trayzel Jureidini-Wyche finished ninth in his first competition of the season with a new personal best toss of 13.84 meters.
The men's 4x400 meter relay team of KJ Laribo, Jackson Bostick, Raymond Brugmans and Siphosethu Boya finished fifth with a time of 3:22.80. The mark is just 1.11 seconds away from tying the school record in the event in the quartet's first time running together. The squad beat out two Division-I schools and SAC rivals Tusculum and LMU in the event.
In her first time running the mile for Carson-Newman, Katie Smock set an opening mark of 5:50.55. Smock has run the mile, 3000, and 5000 meter runs for the Eagles this season. Olivia Fanning set a personal best in the mile for the second straight week and the fifth straight meet dating back to the 2020 Finn Pincus Invitational, setting a mark of 6:02.92.
For the first time in her early career at Carson-Newman, Sydney McCarty competed in the triple jump, finishing 12th with a distance of 10.68 meters.
Christian Henry set a new personal best in the mile by almost six seconds, finishing with a time of 4:36.65. Hunter Miller also set a new personal best in the event with a time of 4:47.53.
In his first career competition with the Eagles, Josh Malloy set an opening mark of 13.07 meters in the shot put. Matthew Campbell set a new personal best in the shot put with a toss of 10.08 meters.
Nathalie Schumacher competed in the shot put for the first time in her career, recording a mark of 10.17 meters. Darce Bagent set a new personal best in the event with a mark of 8.49 meters. Alexis Brown also competed in the event for the first time in her career, recording a mark of 5.86 meters.
The Eagles will wrap up the regular season next weekend at the VMI Winter Classic in Lexington, Va. The two day event begins on Feb. 11 at the Corps Physical Fitness Training Facility.
