SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The Southern Conference Men’s and Women’s Outdoor Track and Field Championships will take place at Shauna Yelton Field at the Samford Track and Soccer Stadium in Birmingham, Alabama, this Saturday and Sunday. This year marks the 97th championship for the men and 35th for the women.
 
Saturday’s schedule gets under way with the men’s 10,000-meter run at 8 a.m. CT, followed by the women’s 10,000m. The decathlon gets started at 9:30 a.m., followed by the heptathlon and field events at 10. A full day of events concludes with the women’s 3,000-meter steeplechase and men’s pole vault at 5:40 p.m. In all, 12 champions will be crowned on the first day of competition, four on the track and eight in field events.
 
Sunday’s schedule opens with the first of the final five decathlon events at 9 a.m., with the heptathlon resuming at 9:15. Field events begin with the men’s high jump and women’s shot put finals at 11 a.m. and the men’s 4x100-meter relay gets the track events started at 1 p.m. The day concludes with the men’s and women’s 4x400-meter relays at 4:25 and 4:40, respectively, followed by the awards ceremony. Thirty events will crown champions on the final day of the meet.
 
Samford is the defending champion on both the men’s and women's sides. The Bulldog men claimed their third title last year and first since consecutive championships in 2015-16, overtaking day-one leader Western Carolina to end the Catamounts’ run of four straight crowns. The Bulldog women won their second straight and fourth overall, with their 109-point margin of victory the largest at the SoCon women’s outdoor meet since Appalachian State won by 150 points in 1992.
 
Samford, which swept the men’s and women’s titles at the SoCon Indoor Track and Field Championships for the third season in a row, holds healthy leads in this season’s outdoor 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 week’s championships.
 
The Bulldog men have totaled 233.5 points in the power rankings, scoring in 17 of 21 events to easily outdistance second-place Western Carolina (174 points). Samford collected at least 20 points in four events, including 33 in the decathlon. The Catamounts scored 108 of their points in field events. VMI is third in the power rankings with 96 points, just ahead of Furman’s 93.5, which came in just seven events.
 
Samford’s women have totaled 223.5 points in the power rankings, scoring in 18 of 21 events, highlighted by 28.5 points in the pole vault. The Bulldogs dominate the SoCon performance list in the event, claiming five of the top eight marks on the season. Wofford is second in the power rankings with 150 points on the strength of 21 points in the 100-meter dash, in which the Terriers hold the top two marks in the league this season. ETSU is third with 133.5 points, scoring in 17 of 21 events.
 
Sunday’s action will air live on ESPN+ on beginning at 1 p.m. CT. Live results, daily recaps, photos and video highlights can be found at SoConSports.com.
 
Storylines:
- The event returns to Birmingham for the ninth time. Previous championships hosted by Samford occurred in 2011, 2015, 2017 and 2019, while the 1927-31 events were also held in Birmingham. The 2020 championships, which were cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic, were also slated to take place at Samford.
 
- All of the individual superlative winners on the men’s side from 2021 returns this season in Samford’s Matt Cahoon, who was the men’s Most Outstanding Athlete and Most Outstanding Field Performer; VMI’s Jordin Poindexter, who was the Most Outstanding Track Performer; and Samford’s Ty Kimberlin, who was the Freshman of the Year. On the women’s side, only 2021 SoCon Freshman of the Year Kerrington Johnson of Wofford returns. Samford’s Rod Tiffin is the defending Coach of the Year for both the men and the women.
 
- Twelve of the 19 men’s individual event winners from 2021 are back in the field this season, as well as all four members of VMI’s winning 4x400-meter relay. Samford’s Cahoon is the defending champion in both the javelin and discus, while teammate Michael McMahan is the defending champ in both hurdles. McMahan will be seeking his third career title in the 400-meter hurdles, as he also won in 2019.
 
- Eight of the 19 individual event winners from 2021 are back in the field on the women’s side, as well as all four members of Wofford’s victorious 4x100-meter relay. The Terriers’ Johnson is the defending champion in both hurdles as well as the 4x100m relay.
 
- Western Carolina’s Makaila McIntyre is a two-time winner in the long jump, as she won in 2019 and 2021.
 
- Samford sisters Emorie Long and Erin Long are the last two winners of the javelin, with Emorie winning in 2019 and Erin in 2021.
 
- Four meet records fell in 2021, with Furman’s Cameron Ponder (3,000-meter steeplechase, 8:49.66), Samford’s Titus Moore (110-meter hurdles, 13.97 seconds), Samford’s Justin Stuckey (high jump, 2.19 meters) and Furman’s Megan Marvin (800-meter run, 2:04.18) all setting new marks. The Paladin duo is back in the field this year.
 
2022 SoCon men’s outdoor track and field power rankings
Team                        Points
Samford                    233.5
Western Carolina       174
VMI                           96
Furman                     93.5
Wofford                     69.5
ETSU                        67
The Citadel                54.5
UNCG                       11
 
2022 SoCon women’s outdoor track and field power rankings
Team                        Points
Samford                    223.5
Wofford                     150
ETSU                        133.5
Western Carolina       85.5
Furman                     64
The Citadel                53.5
VMI                           33
Mercer                      30
Chattanooga              24
UNCG                       0