VIDEO: David Needs Interview
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - The Carson-Newman track & field team wrap up the 2022 indoor track & field season, competing at the SAC Indoor Championships this weekend.
This weekend marks the first SAC Indoor Championships in 727 days. The conference cancelled the 2021 SAC Indoor Championships after the JDL Fast Track venue cancelled all events due to COVID concerns.
The last time Carson-Newman competed at the 2020 SAC Indoor Championships, both the men's and women's teams finished fourth overall. Devon Moore took home gold medals in the 60-meter and 200-meter runs while Abby Owens collected gold in the pole vault. Christian Shouse made a splash at his first Indoor Championships in 2020, winning gold in the high jump, pole vault and long jump, while also earning Men's Field Athlete of the Meet and the SAC Freshman Male Athlete of the Year award. Three current Eagles also earned bronze medals in 2020, with Nathalie Schumacher placing third in the high jump, Marlee Baker earning third in the pole vault, and Rachel Strayer finishing third in the 5000-meter run.
"From a team standpoint, we have done very well this season," says Director of Track & Field and Cross Country David Needs. "One thing we pride ourselves on here is high rankings in multiple events and we're still working to that point. To have so many people qualify with all the talent in this league is a testament to our staff, trainers and strength coaches and everyone else involved with this team."
Joseph Oreva enters the SAC Indoor Championships as the number one overall seed in the men's long jump. The sophomore holds an NCAA provisional mark of 7.24 meters, the 25th longest jump in Divsion-II. Oreva's jump is 0.19 meters longer than the two seed Niklas Klei's jump of 7.05 meters. Shouse joins Oreva as a top-five seed, entering the competition at number five with a jump of 7.00 meters.
The Carson-Newman men hold the top-three seeds in the high jump entering championship weekend. Shane Connell and Shouse enter as the number one and number two seeds with clearances of 1.98 meters. Teammate Sam Cleek sits at the three seed with a clearance of 1.95 meters.
"We're counting on our jumps crew big this week," says Needs. "Our idea is that if you earn the one seed, you should win to clinch ten huge points for us. We're really counting on that and even on the young guys like Court, Camden and Morgan to come up big. One of the great things about coach Kris (Potts-Howard) was that he was a gamer as an athlete. He just went out there and competed and pushed himself and that has inspired his athletes."
In the men's 60-meter run, Carson-Newman hold the three, four and five seeds, occupied by Makanakaishe Charamba, Moore and Sterling Melancon. All three runners hold NCAA provisional marks in the event, with Charamba's time of 6.81 seconds at the ETSU Invitational the 23rd fastest time in Division-II. Moore's time of 6.82 seconds ranks 28th in Division-II, while Melancon's time of 6.85 seconds ranks 43rd.
Moore and Charamba also hold the fourth and fifth seeds in the men's 200-meter run. Both men have set NCAA provisional marks in the event that rank in the Top 25 in all of Division-II. Moore's time of 21.46 seconds ranks 18th overall, while Charamba's time of 21.51 seconds ranks 22nd overall.
Freshman stand out Matthew Blackmon holds the two seed in the men's 60-meter hurdles. Blackmon made a splash this season by breaking or resetting the school record in the event in five of his first six career races at Carson-Newman. His time of 8.20 seconds at the Buccaneer Invitational is an NCAA provisional mark and ranks 39th in all of Division-II. \
On the women's side, Abby Owens will enter the JDL Fast Track complex as the number one seed in the women's pole vault. Owens' clearance of 3.37 meters is 0.17 meters higher than two-seed Pearl Ballard of Lenoir-Rhyne. Owens is the defending conference champion in both of the outdoor and indoor seasons in the pole vault.
"One of the toughest things to practice is the pole vault," says Needs. "If the weather is bad, then they don't get to practice too much. My respect for Abby and all of our pole vaulters is huge because they work hard. Abby is someone who works hard and you can value her opinion because she works hard and backs it up and we're lucky to have it."
Tia Davis holds a pair of top-five seeds in two events entering this weekend. Davis holds the five seed in the women's 60-meter run with a time of 7.80 seconds. She also holds the five seed in the women's 200-meter run with a time of 25.86 seconds.
Schumacher enters the championship weekend as the three seed in the women's high jump. The junior from Germany became the first Eagle to earn back-to-back women's SAC Indoor Field Athlete of the Week honors earlier this season and won the event championship at the Buccaneer Invitational with her jump of 1.61 meters.
Freshman Sydney McCarty has come on strong in her first year at Carson-Newman. McCarty enters the weekend as the three seed in the women's long jump with a distance of 5.46 meters, a distance that was good enough for third at the Tiger Paw Invite earlier this season. McCarty also holds a top-10 seed in the women's triple jump, sitting at eighth with a distance of 10.28 meters.
"Our goal this weekend is to go forward," says Needs. "No matter what happens, just move forward and get better. We feel good about all of our crew despite them being young and not a lot of experience at championship events. We have great coaches, we have great athletes who want to compete, and a support staff that supports us no matter what. If we can go forward, then we'll start picking off some of those higher seeds and earn more points and have a big weekeend."
Overall, the Eagles hold 32 top-10 seeds across both the men's and women's teams to open championship weekend.
Fans that do make the trek to Winston-Salem this weekend can enter the venue free of charge, but space is limited and MASKS MUST BE WORN AT ALL TIMES in the venue unless eating or drinking.
Fans that cannot make it to Winston-Salem this weekend, can sign up and pay for championships will be live-streamed via RunnerSpace.com, here This requires a +plus account which costs $12.99 per month. You can sign-up for an account and learn more about the stream here. Fans can also follow along with live results via Athletic Live here.
