WINSTON-SALEM, N.C.- Carson-Newman track and field left the 2024 South Atlantic Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships this afternoon, Feb. 25, ranked third and fifth in the conference.
"We're excited about our women finishing third," head track and field coach David Needs said. "That's the highest we've ever finished. The men finishing fifth is not what we expect, but we had a number of injuries and people who maybe didn't get the chance to run. I'm so proud of our men for battling through it until the end'.
Carson-Newman women's track and field left the conference championships in third place with 68 total points. Wingate won with 207 points, and Lenoir-Rhyne finished second wtih 131 points. The men's team placed fifth overall with 49.5 points. Wingate, Lenoir-Rhyne, Tusculum, and Anderson finished first through fourth respectively. Full meet results can be found HERE.
Tytiana Wilson grabbed gold in the women's 400-meter finals in 57.77. Another first-place finish came from Amine Kasmi. Kasmi won gold in the men's 200-meter dash finals in 21.70 seconds.
"When you have someone like Tytiana, who the last few years has finished second, to finally break through that barrier and get first, you're just so excited," Needs said. "She's a competitor. Then, you look at Sade who finished second to one of the fastest women in the country. There were so many athletes from our women's side that just went out and competed hard to get us those points".
In the women's 60 dash finals, Sade De Sousa placed second in 7.46 seconds. Christian Langlois finished sixth for the men during the finals in 6.94.
"I mean, how can we say enough about our women," Needs said. "What they did today in finals was awesome. We had a lot of top finishes and second-place finishes, so we definitely put a lot of points on the board with that".
Kadidja Sangare left the 60-meter hurdles finals with a second-place finish. Sangare ran the race in 8.69 seconds. Shemar Patten competed in the men's 60 hurdles finals where he stood third on the podium for his 8.13-second finals time. Teammate Jeremiah Carroll placed sixth in 8.40.
In the women's 1 mile finals, Jenna Pittman finished ninth in 5:21.60. Katie Smock competed in the women's 3,000-meter race and finished in 18th in 10:39.66. Colton Lee grabbed the 10-spot in the men's 3,000 in 8:29.14.
Wilson competed in the women's 4x400-meter relay with teammates Abbie Zander, Myke'Lah McMiller, and Lauren Tabor. The quartet placed second in the event in 3:55.68. The men's 4x400 relay finished seventh in 3:28.91.
Oluwafemi Richards made a mark at the championships with his second-place finish in the men's high jump. Richards grabbed silver with a 2.01-meter mark. Verrol Sam placed fifth with 1.96 meters. Luke Smith brought the Eagles another top-5 finish during the men's shot put event. Smith grabbed fifth with a 14.70-meter performance.
Brooke Taylor finished fifth in the women's triple jump. Taylor left the event with a 11.35-meter mark. Kendall Whitehead placed 10th in the event (10.91 m). In the women's high jump, Whitehead finished 11th with a 1.44-meter performance.
"We challenged the team at the beginning of the week to be committed," Needs said. "To see where we are now because they were so committed, it says a lot to me as a coach. We have some fighters".
Carson-Newman track and field will be back in action Friday, Mar. 8 at the 2024 NCAA DII Indoor Track & Field Championships in Pittsburg, Kan. Stay up to date on cneagles.com.
