WINSTON-SALEM, N.C.- Carson-Newman track and field's Kadidja Sangare grabbed gold in the women's long jump with a 5.81-meter performance during the first day of the 2024 SAC Indoor Track and Field Championships this afternoon, Feb. 24.
"When you sweep the long jump, you can never complain about that," head track and field coach David Needs said. "We have a lot of talent in that group. If you know their stories and the reasons to celebrate, what a joy it is to see three Carson-Newman Eagles standing on that podium."
The Eagles crowded the top-5 during the women's long jump event this afternoon. Sangare won gold with a 5.81-meter leap. Savannah Goodwin grabbed silver (5.72 m), Sydney McCarty stood third on the podium (5.63 m), and Brooke Taylor rounded out the top-5 (5.52 m) in the event. Verrol Sam placed fourth in the men's long jump with a 6.97-meter leap.
"I'm feeling great," Carson-Newman track and field athlete Kadidja Sangare said. "Consistency is the biggest thing we have. It's about always showing up to practice, even when you don't want to. It's also just about enjoying what you do. Now, we just have to continue to perform well as a group".
Matthew Bretscher placed 10th in the men's pole vault with a 3.36-meter mark. Ian Salyer placed 17th in the men's weight throw with his 13.09-meter performance.
Tytiana Wilson finished first in the women's 400-meter prelims. Wilson ran the race in 58.09 seconds, a provisional qualifying time for nationals. Myke'Lah McMiller finished 12th in the prelims in 1:00.18 and was followed by Abbie Zander (1:00.21) and Lauren Tabor (1:01.11) who finished 13th and 14th respectively. In the men's 400 prelims, Taylor Dupler finished in 11th with a 51.75-second preliminary time.
Amine Kasmi finished first in the men's 200 prelims with a provisional qualifying time of 21.86 seconds. Janaya Davis-Gainer competed in the women's 200-meter prelims and finished 13th in 26.23.
During the women's 60-meter dash prelims, Sade De Sousa finished second in 7.48-second national qualifying time. Davis-Gainer grabbed 12th in the prelims in 7.77 seconds. Christian Langlois finished eighth in the men's 60 prelims. He finished the race in 6.90 seconds, a provisional qualifying time. Shemar Patten followed behind in ninth in 6.93 seconds, and Kasmi finished 13th in the prelims in 6.93 as well.
Sangare grabbed the No. 2 spot in the women's 60-meter hurdles prelims. She finished the race with a national qualifying time of 8.83 seconds. Patten finished fourth in the men's preliminary event with a provisional qualifying time of 8.16 seconds, and teammate Jeremiah Carroll finished sixth in the prelims with another provisional time of 8.42 seconds.
Jenna Pittman finished 10th in the women's 1 mile preliminary event. Pittman ran the mile in 5:19.50 to grab a provisional mark. In the women's 800-meter prelims, Imke Van Gog grabbed 14th in 2:27.77. For the men, Garrett Wilson finished 11th in the prelims in 1:58.35.
"We had a new school record in the mile," Needs said. "We knew she had it in her. For Jenna to make it to the finals was a surprise and a bonus for us. For her to get after it and run really well, I'm extremely pleased".
Van Gog placed 10th in the women's 5,000-meter race in 18:09.96. Teammate Katie Smock grabbed 11th in 18:21.64.
During the distance medley relay, C-N men's track and field finished fourth in 10:21.49. Raymond Brugmans, Christian Henry, Colton Lee, and Wilson each contributed a leg. The women's team placed seventh in the event in 13:11.21.
"There are always certain areas where we can improve," Needs said. "We wish we were healthier, and we wish we had some of our people that were feeling their best. What we do have, though, is some people who ran really well and jumped really well. We feel really good. We have a group of people performing at a high level. Tomorrow, we want our athletes to be commited to give the very best. We've got to get a good nights sleep, and then tomorrow we have to go into the meet with the mindset that I will do this".
Carson-Newman track and field will be back in action tomorrow, Feb. 25 at 10:30 a.m. for the second day of the 2024 SAC Indoor Track and Field Championships. Stay up to date on cneagles.com.
