SoCon Championship information page

SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The Southern Conference Men’s and Women’s Indoor Track and Field Championships will take place at VMI’s Corps Physical Training Facility in Lexington, Virginia, this Saturday and Sunday. This year marks the 86th edition of the men’s championship and 34th women’s championship. VMI is hosting the meets for the fourth straight season.
 
Samford swept the team titles last year, with the Bulldog men claiming their first SoCon indoor title to end Western Carolina’s six-year reign. The Samford women won their fifth straight indoor title last season and will seek to become just the second women’s program to win at least six straight. Appalachian State won seven straight titles twice, from 1988-94 and again from 2001-07.
 
After finishing second to WCU for five straight years, Samford’s men finally broke through in 2020 with 190 points, 30 clear of the Catamounts. Furman finished third for the second straight season.
 
Samford’s women totaled 177.5 points. ETSU picked up 134 points for a second-place finish, its best since 1998, and Furman claimed third with 109 points.
 
This season’s power rankings – determined by the top eight times or scores that are reported by the schools for each event that will be conducted at this weekend’s championships – predict successful title defenses for both Samford programs, though it’s worth noting that several teams competed in fewer meets than usual this season.
 
The Samford men totaled 207 points in the power rankings, comfortably ahead of second-place Furman’s 113. The race is tighter on the women’s side, as the Bulldogs have 175.33 points and second-place Wofford boasts 122.33.
 
Spectators are not permitted at this year’s championships, but both days of meet will air live on ESPN+. Live results, daily recaps, photos and video highlights can be found at SoConSports.com.
 
Storylines:
- Lexington, Virginia, is the site of the men’s event for the 39th time, more than double the total of the next-highest sites, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and Johnson City, Tennessee, which have hosted 18 times each. The men’s championship was contested in Lexington for 28 consecutive years from 1954-81. The women’s championship was held in Lexington for the seventh time last season. Prior to 2018, the last time VMI hosted the championships was in 2000.
 
- The winners of eight of the 15 individual men’s events and nine of the 15 individual women’s events from last year’s meet return this season.
 
- Of all of last year’s superlative winners, only three return this season. Samford’s Matt Cahoon, who shared the Heath Whittle Award as the Most Outstanding Athlete and was voted the Most Outstanding Field Performer, and Samford’s Evan Brooks and Wofford’s Georgia McDevitt, the freshmen of the year, are back.
 
- Cahoon has the top SoCon marks this season in the shot put (15.37 meters) and weight throw (17.32m) and is the defending SoCon champion in both events. He is fourth in the league in the high jump this season (2.00m) and was the 2019 SoCon champion in the event.
 
- Brooks paces the SoCon this season in the 60-meter dash (6.86 seconds) and 200-meter dash (21.65).
 
- McDevitt ranks in the top eight in the SoCon in four events this season, as she’s third in the long jump (5.76m), sixth in the 200m (25.23) and eighth in the 60m (7.79) and 400m (58.75).
 
- If Furman’s Cameron Ponder successfully defends his title in the mile, it will be the Paladins’ fifth straight title in the event, while Daniel Bernal would give Furman four straight wins in the 3,000-meter run if he defends his crown.
 
- Furman’s Ryan Adams finished his career with his third 800-meter title last season, turning in a time of 1:50.37 to erase a meet record that had stood since 1997.
 
- Samford’s Titus Moore will be chasing his third straight title in the 60-meter hurdles. He set a meet record with a time of 7.81 in the preliminaries last season.
 
- Justin Stuckey became the third different Samford high jump champion in as many years and won the Bulldogs’ fourth straight title in the event in 2020.
 
- Western Carolina’s men will go for their 10th straight title in the 4x400-meter relay.
 
- ETSU’s Nicole Johnson set a meet record as a freshman last season, winning the 60-meter dash in 7.40 seconds.
 
- Samford’s Brittany Bishop claimed the pole vault title for the Bulldogs as a freshman last season and owns the top mark in the league this season at 3.80 meters. Bishop was the third different Bulldog to claim the title in as many years, and 2019 champion Tally Wilson is back in the field again this year.
 
- Furman’s Savannah Carnahan capped her career with her fourth straight title in the 5,000-meter run last season. The Paladins are well-positioned to retain the title this year, as the top three times in the league this year belong to Furman runners, led by freshmen Madelynne Cadeau and Jonna Strange.
 
- A pair of VMI Keydets will look to defend SoCon titles in their home venue, as Ahliyah Williams is the reigning 400-meter champion and Sarah Leckman is the defending champion in the shot put.
 
- Wofford had its most successful showing ever at the 2020 SoCon indoor meet, with the Terrier women totaling 97.5 points and a fourth-place finish, both program-best marks, and the Wofford men finishing fifth, their best finish ever, with 56 points, the second-most in program history.