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 87th edition of the men’s championship and 35th women’s championship. VMI is hosting the meets for the fifth straight season.
 
Samford swept the team titles again last year, with the Bulldog men claiming their second straight SoCon indoor title and the Samford women winning their sixth straight. The Bulldogs will now seek to become just the second women’s program to win seven straight, a feat Appalachian State achieved twice (1988-94, 2001-07).
 
Samford’s men cruised to the team victory last season, scoring 191 points to easily outdistance runner-up Western Carolina (129). Furman was third for a third straight season after collecting a program-record 118 points.
 
On the women’s side, the Bulldogs battled Wofford and ETSU on the final day, finishing with 155.5 points. The Terriers’ runner-up finish was their best ever, as were their 131 points, while the Bucs finished in third with 125.5 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.
 
The Samford men totaled 201.5 points in the power rankings, comfortably ahead of second-place Western Carolina’s 120. The women’s race is tighter, as the Bulldogs boast 169.5 points to ETSU’s 136.
 
Spectators are permitted at this year’s championships and day two of the meet will air live on ESPN+, with Jason Patterson and Phil Cox on the call. 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 40th 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 eighth time last season. Prior to 2018, the last time VMI hosted the championships was in 2000.
 
- The winners of 13 of the 15 individual men’s events and 12 of the 15 individual women’s events from last year’s meet return this season.
 
- All of last year’s superlative winners return this season.
 
- On the men’s side, Samford’s Matt Cahoon and Ty Kimberlin shared the Heath Whittle Award as the Most Outstanding Athlete, while Cahoon was also voted the Most Outstanding Field Performer, claiming both awards for the second straight year. Bulldog teammate Evan Brooks is the reigning Most Outstanding Track Performer and VMI’s Keyandre Midgett was last season’s Freshman of the Year.
 
- For the women, ETSU’s Nicole Johnson, Western Carolina’s Makaila McIntyre and Wofford’s Netanya Linares shared Most Outstanding Athlete honors and all return. Johnson is also the reigning Most Outstanding Track Performer, while Samford’s Hannah Daffin was voted the Most Outstanding Field Performer. Wofford’s Madeline McNinch was the Freshman of the Year.
 
- Three records were set at last year’s meet, all on the men’s side, with Samford’s Jose Peñalver breaking the previous mark in the 800-meter run, Furman’s Cameron Ponder erasing the previous mark in the mile and Samford’s Kimberlin setting a new mark in the heptathlon.
 
- Cahoon is the two-time defending champion in both the shot put and weight throw, while Kimberlin is seeking his third straight heptathlon title.
 
- Ponder is the two-time defending champion in the mile, which has been won by a Furman student-athlete for the last five years. Ponder earned first-team All-America honors in the 3,000-meter run last year, while teammate Aaron Wier, who also returns this season, earned second-team distinction in the mile.
 
- Samford’s Justin Stuckey will vie for his third straight high jump title. He earned first-team All-America honors in the event last season.
 
- ETSU’s Johnson is the two-time defending champ in the 60-meter run, as is Samford’s Brittany Bishop in the pole vault.
 
- Samford’s Morayo Bhadmos won the triple jump in 2019 and 2021 and returns seeking a third title. The same is true of Western Carolina’s Victoria Solheim, who won the weight throw in 2019 and 2021.