ALLENDALE, Mich. - An All-American performance by Joseph Oreva and a school record run in the 4x100 meter relay highlight the Eagles' opening day at the NCAA Division II Outdoor Championships.
Oreva was in the second flight of 18 total jumpers, competing as the no. two overall seed and needing a jump of 7.48 meters to make the finals. After recording jumps of 7.40 meters and 7.17 meters in his first two attempts, the sophomore flew into the championship round with a jump of 7.58 meters, at the time his second-longest jump of the season.
In the finals, Oreva faulted on his first jump before jumping 7.69 meters on his last jump to move up to third place overall. However, a foul on his final attempt and two big jumps by Christopher Goodwin of Central Missouri and Kizan David of Lincoln (Mo.) pushed Oreva to a fourth place overall finish. Goodwin's jump of 7.93 meters was enough to win the gold medal.
Oreva now becomes a three-time All-American during his career at Carson-Newman and earns his first career outdoor All-American honors. He is a two-time indoor All-American in the long jump.
"Overall, it was a great meet," says jumps coach Kris Potts-Howard. "We started out a little slow, but really showed up when it mattered. Credit to Joseph, it shows how much of a competitor that he is on the runway. Had a few small mistakes that left some big jumps on the table, but I couldn't be more proud of him. We've talked about execution the past two weeks and Joseph dug deep and got it done. Nothing is given, and everything is earned at NCAA's. Easy to say, Joseph earned his third career All-American honor"
.@Oreviscoj earns All-American honors, finishing fourth in the long jump at the NCAA National Championships @CN_Track pic.twitter.com/qVYM6xJTFO
— Carson-Newman Athletics (@CN_Eagles) May 26, 2022
In the 4x100 meter relay, the quartet of PJ Lotharp, Makanakaishe Charamba, Siphosethu Boya and Devon Moore moved onto the finals, winning their heat by 0.15 seconds over defending champion Texas A&M-Commerce with a time of 39.75 seconds. That mark beats the old school record of 39.93 seconds set by the group at the SAC Outdoor Championships.
The old school record that was set in 1976 has been broken at four straight meets by the same quartet, winning all four of those races.
�� THAT'S HOW YOU START A CHAMPIONSHIP MEET ��
— Carson-Newman Athletics (@CN_Eagles) May 26, 2022
The @cn_track men's 4x100 meter relay team win their heat with the second-fastest time in the prelims.
Oh...and they broke the school record for the fourth straight time this season @ReallVon pic.twitter.com/q41hBULlvP
Ashland will hold the one-seed in the finals of the men's 4x100 meter relay. The finals will be held on Saturday, May 28 at 2:00 PM.
Both Boya and Charamba are on to the finals of the men's 100-meter run. Charamba earned his way to the finals on Saturday with a run of 10.34 seconds, a new personal bes. That mark is just 0.04 seconds away from tying the school record held by his teammates Moore and Boya.
The freshman hasn't finished lower than fourth in the 100-meter run in his career so far.
Welcome to the NCAA Outdoor Championships, Maka.
— Carson-Newman Athletics (@CN_Eagles) May 26, 2022
The SAC Freshman of the Year takes his heat and is on to the finals of the 100-meter run @CN_Track pic.twitter.com/VRsQ6wMQCp
Boya finished fourth in his heat and eighth overall in the prelims with a time of 10.40 seconds. It is the Lee transfer's fifth top-five finish in a 100-meter heat during his time in Mossy Creek.
The finals of the men's 100-meter run will be held on Saturday, May 28 at 3:25 PM.
"We were on fire today," says Director of Track & Field David Needs. "Just a big credit to Kieran and Kris today. All season long we've asked for guys to show up in the big moments and Joseph did that thanks to Kris' coaching. And Kieran was so patient with his guys and coached them up to get them to this point. They've taken a businesslike approach and they've gone after it. They don't want to just win their heat, they want to win the national championship. They have a lot of heart and this is a big start to hopefully a good weekend. Now we get to see what tomorrow holds for Tray and Maka."
Charamba returns to the track tomorrow for the 200-meter run, while teammate Trayzel Jureidini-Wyche makes his postseason debut in the discus. The discus begins at 2:00 PM tomorrow while the 200-meter run starts at 5:30 PM. Fans can follow along with live stats here with live video beginning at 5:25 PM here.
