BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Western Carolina swept the men’s and women’s team championships on Saturday at the 2015 SoCon Indoor Track and Field Championships at the CrossPlex in Birmingham, Ala.
Western Carolina finished with 228 points on the men’s side and 226 points on the women’s side to claim the team titles for both. Samford finished runner-up for both sides, earning 155 points for both the men’s and women’s sides. In their respective returns to the SoCon, VMI and ETSU came in third in the men’s and women’s sides, respectively.
Furman’s Sinead Haughey broke another SoCon record on Saturday, her second of the championship, while ETSU’s Demeteria Edgecombe broke her own record set yesterday. Haughey ran a 16:33.51 in the 5,000-meter run, topping the previous record of 16:39.02 set at last year’s championship. Edgecombe improved upon her conference-record time in the 60-meter hurdles with an 8.29.
Western Carolina’s Xaviera Bass and Furman’s Allie Buchalski each earned 26 points to garner Most Outstanding Women’s Performer honors. Bass and Buchalski were also named the Most Outstanding Track Performer and Field Performer, respectively.
Bass won the high jump, finished second in the 60m hurdles and also placed in the top eight in the long jump, triple jump and 60-meter dash. Buchalski won the mile run and finished second in both the 3,000-meter run and the 5,000-meter run.
Furman’s Tripp Hurt led the men with 20 points to claim the Most Outstanding Men’s Performer award. Hurt was also named Most Outstanding Men’s Track Performer by the league’s coaches. Hurt won both the 3,000-meter run and 5,000-meter run and was the only male athlete to win two individual events.
Western Carolina’s Jared Johnson was selected as the Most Outstanding Men’s Field Performer by the league’s coaches. Johnson won the weight throw and finished second in the shot put to total 18 points for the championship.
Western Carolina’s Brenden Caldwell and Samford’s Tiana Pisoni were named the Men’s and Women’s Freshman of the Year, respectively. Caldwell finished second in the heptathlon while also earning points in the high jump, pole vault and triple jump. Pisoni won the triple jump and came in third in the long jump.
Danny Williamson was selected as both the Men’s and Women’s Coach of the Year. The Catamounts earned their second straight sweep of the team titles.
Furman claimed individual titles in both the men’s and women’s mile races and the men’s and women’s 5,000-meter runs. Allie Buchalski won the mile with a time of 4:58.17 while her teammate Troy Reeder turned it on in the final leg to earn the victory with a time of 4:08.21. Haughey won the 5,000-meter run with a record time while Tripp Hurt edged out Samford’s Arse’ne Guillorel for first with a time of 14:18.23.
VMI’s Quincy Murphy went to win the heptathlon with 4,952 points. Murphy won the 60-meter hurdles and finished in the top five of the pole vault and 1,000-meter dash to claim the individual title.
Western Carolina’s Jared Johnson took the men's weight throw with a throw of 18.64m (61-2.00). Fellow Catamount Alisha Bradshaw won the women’s weight throw with a mark of 17.80m (58-4.75).
Western Carolina’s Marquis Bailey won the men's 60m hurdles with a time of 8.14. ETSU’s Edgecombe won the women’s 60-meter hurdles with her record time.
In the triple jump events, Western Carolina’s David Johnson won the men’s with a distance of 14.80m. Samford’s Pisoni won the women’s event with a distance of 11.99m.
Western Carolina’s Devyn Ressler won the women’s pole vault with a height of 3.90m. ETSU’s Ashley Kessler finished second with a mark of 3.80m while Morgan Johnson of Samford finished third.
The 60-meter dash events both went to Western Carolina. Tayla Carter won the women’s with a time of 7.49 while Jermaine Lewis won the men’s with a time of 6.83.
The 400-meter runs were both claimed by Catamounts as well. Genevieve Emrick won the women’s race with a time of 55.44 with Aaron Tribble taking the men’s race with a time of 48.66.
Samford would take first in both of the 800-meter races. Brandon Hazouri won the men’s with a time of 1:54.79 and teammate Marie DeMedicis won the women’s with a 2:11.58 time.
Western Carolina claimed both of the 200-meter races. Chris Hancock topped the field with a time of 21.91 in the men’s race with Tayla Carter taking first in the women’s race with a time of 24.46.
The final races of the day, the 4x400-meter relays, each saw Western Carolina take first place. The Catamounts earned a time of 3:46.42 in the women’s race and a time of 3:17.07 in the men’s race.
Final Men’s Team Results
1. Western Carolina - 228
2. Samford - 155
3. VMI – 98.50
4. Furman - 92
5. The Citadel – 40.50
6. Chattanooga - 32
7. Wofford - 12
8. UNCG - 4
Final Women’s Team Results
1. Western Carolina - 226
2. Samford - 155
3. ETSU - 96
4. Furman – 83
5. Chattanooga - 46
6. The Citadel – 24
7. VMI - 23
8. Wofford - 5
8. UNCG - 5
Men’s Individual Awards
Most Outstanding Athlete
Tripp Hurt, Furman
Most Outstanding Track Performer
Tripp Hurt, Furman
Most Outstanding Field Performer
Jared Johnson, Western Carolina
Freshman of the Year
Brenden Caldwell, Western Carolina
Coach of the Year
Danny Williamson, Western Carolina
Women’s Individual Awards
Most Outstanding Athletes
Xaviera Bass, Western Carolina
Allie Buchalski, Furman
Most Outstanding Track Performer
Allie Buchalski, Furman
Most Outstanding Field Performers
Xaviera Bass, Western Carolina
Alisha Bradshaw, Western Carolina
Freshman of the Year
Tiana Pisoni, Samford
Coach of the Year
Danny Williamson, Western Carolina
Men’s All-Freshman Team – Day 2
Heptathlon
Marquis Barnes, Samford
Austin Billings, Samford
Jordan Santana, Western Carolina
Mile
Troy Reeder, Furman
Austin Sprague, Furman
Bryan Whyms, UNCG
Weight Throw
Mateius Brown, Western Carolina
60m Hurdles
Lee Warren, VMI
Drake Watson, Chattanooga
Marquis Barnes, Samford
Triple Jump
Kevin Hires, Western Carolina
Jordan Santana, Western Carolina
Marquis Barnes, Samford
60m
Brenden Caldwell, Western Carolina
Chris Hancock, Western Carolina
400m
Dakota Lamont, Western Carolina
Carson Howe, Samford
Devin Singleton, The Citadel
200m
Chris Hancock, Western Carolina
Dakota Lamont, Western Carolina
Henry Kiedy, Western Carolina
5,000m
Arse’ne Guillorel, Samford
Aaron Templeton, Furman
Troy Reeder, Furman
Women’s All-Freshman Team – Day 2
Mile
Jacquelyn Crow, Furman
Karisa Nelson, Samford
60m Hurdles
Sarah Sanford, Samford
Alyiah Riley, Western Carolina
Qiona Payton, Samford
Triple Jump
Tiana Pisoni, Samford
Adriana Watkins, ETSU
Kennedy Smith, VMI
400m
Sarah Sanford, Samford
800m
Jacquelyn Crow, Furman
200m
Marabeth Clark, ETSU
5,000m
Emma Mashburn, Furman
Emily Drouin, Chattanooga
Anna Kate Chance, Chattanooga