BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Samford’s men and women swept the Southern Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships for the second straight year Sunday at Shauna Yelton Field at the Samford Track and Soccer Stadium. Highlights of the day included podium sweeps in three events, VMI’s Jordin Poindexter winning three titles and Furman’s Matthew Smith breaking a meet record that had stood since 1977.
Both Samford squads built on big day-one leads. The Bulldog men won their second straight outdoor title with 226 points, their second-most ever in the SoCon outdoor meet. Samford, which enjoyed a 50-point day-one lead over Furman, finished with a 77-point margin of victory over runner-up Western Carolina (149 points). VMI finished third with 123 points.
The Samford women totaled 224 points, finishing 86 points clear of runner-up ETSU (138) after leading by 52 points after Saturday’s first day of competition. Western Carolina (133) and Wofford (117) also surpassed the century mark.
Samford thrower Matt Cahoon was named the men’s Most Outstanding Athlete for the second straight season after totaling 28 points and scoring in five events at the meet, posting runner-up finishes in the discus and javelin, a third-place finish in the hammer, a fifth-place finish in the high jump and a seventh-place finish in the shot put.
Western Carolina’s Marissa Blakely was named the women’s Most Outstanding Athlete after totaling 27.75 points, also scoring in five events. She won the 200-meter dash and 400-meter dash, finished fourth in the high jump and ran legs on the Catamounts’ 4x100-meter and 4x400-meter relays, which finished third and fourth, respectively.
VMI won four men’s event titles Sunday, with Samford and Western Carolina claiming three each, The Citadel and Furman winning two each and ETSU grabbing one. Samford paced the women with four event wins, followed by ETSU, Furman and Western Carolina with three each and Wofford with two.
Ty Kimberlin won the decathlon for the second straight year to pace a dominant Samford effort in the event, as the Bulldogs claimed the top five finishes. Kimberlin won five of the 10 events over the two-day meet to total 6,769 points and was joined on the podium by teammates Stockton McGuire (6,672) and Damian Hines (6,457).
Furman accounted for the other two podium sweeps Sunday, both coming in the 5,000-meter run. Freshman Gabe Montague paced the Paladin men in the event with a time of 15:18.40 and was followed across the finish line by teammates Dylan Schubert and Carson Williams. On the women’s side, sophomore Bethany Graham successfully defended her title in 17:05.04, followed by Emily Little and Madelynne Cadeau.
Earlier in the day, Furman’s Megan Marvin won the 800m for the second straight year and claimed her first title in the 1,500-meter run. When Graham won the 5,000m later in the afternoon, it gave the Paladin women a sweep of all the distance event titles from 800m to 10,000-meter run at the meet for the first time in program history.
The Paladins’ Smith, a freshman, made this most of his SoCon outdoor debut, erasing one of the meet’s oldest records. The rookie from Leesburg, Virginia, won the 800-meter run in 1:48.37, breaking the mark of 1:49.20 set by Furman’s Phil Barker 45 years ago. Runner-up Miguel Parrilla of ETSU also came in under Barker’s time, clocking 1:48.84. The 800m was one of four events with meet records dating back to 1977.
Poindexter had a hand in three of VMI’s four wins Sunday, winning the 100-meter dash and the 200m and running a leg on the Keydets’ winning 4x400m relay. He also ran a leg on VMI’s 4x100m relay, which finished third.
Solomon Ghosh won the discus for VMI’s other title on the day.
Samford’s Michael McMahan swept the hurdles for the second straight year, winning both the 110-meter and 400-meter hurdles. Makenzie Hooton kept another Samford streak intact, winning the high jump for the Bulldogs’ sixth straight win in the event.
Hannah Daffin gave Samford its third straight win in the shot put and Mia Milasinovic overcame day-one leader Netanya Linares of Wofford to win the heptathlon with wins in the javelin and 800m Sunday.
After posting runner-up finishes in the triple jump in each of her previous two SoCon meets, Samford’s Morayo Bhadmos finally broke through with her first title in the event.
One of the most exciting finishes of the day was in the women’s 400-meter hurdles, as ETSU’s Lindsay Cooper came from behind to out-lean Mercer’s Ariel Raggs by just 0.03 seconds at 1:00.33. Nicole Johnson won the 100-meter dash and Cooper, Johnson, Jessica Lord and Hannah Burkhart capped the meet with a win in the 4x400m relay.
Wofford’s Kerrington Johnson repeated in a pair of events, the 100-meter hurdles and the 4x100m relay.
The Citadel’s Stephen Kraeling won the high jump, giving the Bulldogs their first win in the event since 2000, while JP Caglione claimed the shot put for the program’s first win in that event since 2002.
Western Carolina’s Brown Brothers went 1-2 in the triple jump, with Javon winning with a leap of 15.36 meters. Runner-up Javell won the event at this year’s indoor meet. The Catamounts also claimed the 4x100m relay, which was anchored by second-team All-SoCon defensive back Ronald Kent, and got a win from Victoria Solheim in the discus to complement Blakely’s pair of wins.
Samford’s outdoor title sweep came on the heels of its indoor sweep in February, marking the second straight season the Bulldogs have swept both indoor and outdoor championships.
The NCAA Regional fields will be announced on Thursday, May 19, via press release at NCAA.com.
Men’s results – Final
1. Samford – 226 points
2. Western Carolina – 149
3. VMI – 123
4. Furman – 95
5. ETSU – 87
6. The Citadel – 74
7. Wofford – 42
8. UNCG – 15
Women’s results – Final
1. Samford – 224 points
2. ETSU – 138
3. Western Carolina – 133
4. Wofford – 117
5. Furman – 94
6. The Citadel – 46
7. Mercer – 31
8. Chattanooga – 21
9. VMI – 14
10. UNCG – 0
Men’s Most Outstanding Athlete
Matt Cahoon, Samford
Women’s Most Outstanding Athlete
Marissa Blakely, Western Carolina
Men’s Pinnacle Award (highest GPA on championship-winning team)
Logan Guzik, Samford
Women’s Pinnacle Award (highest GPA on championship-winning team)
Savannah Schmidt, Samford
Day 2 champions
Men: High jump Stephen Kraeling, The Citadel (2.05 meters);
discus Solomon Ghosh, VMI (48.70 meters);
4x100-meter relay Marcus Brown, David Miles, Michael Harris, Ronald Kent, Western Carolina (41.13);
1,500-meter run Adam Bradtmueller, ETSU (3:44.55);
110-meter hurdles Michael McMahan, Samford (14.52);
400-meter dash Michael Harris, Western Carolina (47.62);
100-meter dash Jordin Poindexter, VMI (10.27);
800-meter run Matthew Smith, Furman (1:48.37*);
400-meter hurdles Michael McMahan, Samford (53.05);
decathlon Ty Kimberlin, Samford (6,769 points);
5,000-meter run Gabe Montague, Furman (15:18.40);
200-meter dash Justin Poindexter, VMI (20.89);
shot put JP Caglione, The Citadel (15.49 meters);
triple jump Javon Brown, Western Carolina (15.36 meters);
4x400-meter relay Jeremiah Wilks, Jordan Poindexter, Richard Edwards, Johnnie Walker, VMI (3:11.08).
Women: Shot put Hannah Daffin, Samford (14.38 meters);
Heptathlon Mia Milasinovic, Samford (4,871 points);
4x100-meter relay Destiny Shippy, Georgia McDevitt, Rylee Jorgensen, Madeline McNinch, Wofford (45.99);
1,500-meter run Megan Marvin, Furman (4:20.44);
100-meter hurdles Kerrington Johnson, Wofford (13.40);
triple jump Morayo Bhadmos, Samford (12.21 meters);
400-meter dash Marissa Blakely, Western Carolina (54.93);
100-meter dash Nicole Johnson, ETSU (11.66);
800-meter run Megan Marvin, Furman (2:07.66);
400-meter hurdles Lindsay Cooper, ETSU (1:00.33);
200-meter dash Marissa Blakely, Western Carolina (24.29);
discus Victoria Solheim, Western Carolina (46.95 meters);
high jump Makenzie Hooton, Samford (1.65 meters);
5,000-meter run Bethany Graham, Furman (17:05.04);
4x400-meter relay Jessica Lord, Hannah Burkhart, Lindsay Cooper, Nicole Johnson, ETSU (3:48.68).
* meet record
Men’s all-freshman – Day 2
High jump
Edric Wenhold, Samford
Tyler Smith, Samford
Discus
None
1,500-meter run
Matthew Smith, Furman
Gabe Montague, Furman
Colin Keck, UNCG
110-meter hurdles
Xander Topos, VMI
Grant Witherspoon, Wofford
400-meter dash
Richard Edwards, VMI
Andrew Hamilton, UNCG
Jackson Casey, Wofford
100-meter dash
Nolan Johnson, ETSU
Jeremiah Wilks, VMI
Tyke Tabor, Samford
800-meter run
Matthew Smith, Furman
Henry Stecher, Western Carolina
Spencer Connick, UNCG
400-meter hurdles
Xander Topos, VMI
Benedikt Strack, ETSU
Decathlon
Damian Hines, Samford
Isaiah Blount, VMI
200-meter dash
Jeremiah Wilks, VMI
Nolan Johnson, ETSU
Zin Maung, UNCG
5,000-meter run
Gabe Montague, Furman
Nick Goldstein, Furman
Foster Wilfong, Furman
Shot put
Hunter Davis, VMI
Triple jump
Ian Jones, Samford
Charles Male, VMI
Owen Barr, Western Carolina
Women’s all-freshman – Day 2
Shot put
Yanna Cuesta, The Citadel
Heptathlon
Marga Van Der Linde, Wofford
Abbey King, ETSU
1,500-meter run
Madelynne Cadeau, Furman
Mary Claire Ridgeway, Wofford
Kaylie Armitage, Furman
Bella Manfre, UNCG
100-meter hurdles
Amiel Dabney, Samford
Tre’Breh Scott, Western Carolina
Ariel Raggs, Mercer
Triple jump
Kelsey Martin, Samford
Yvonnia Perrello, VMI
400-meter dash
Monica Seitz, Furman
100-meter dash
Eleyah Armstrong, VMI
Liyah Nelson, Samford
Leslie Gansore, ETSU
800-meter run
Callie Harper, Furman
Serena Henderson, UNCG
Chloe Gilbert, Wofford
400-meter hurdles
Ariel Raggs, Mercer
Ayden Drake, Samford
Gracie Morse, Chattanooga
200-meter dash
Kelsey Martin, Samford
Amiel Dabney, Samford
Eleyah Armstrong, VMI
Discus
Taniyah Thomas, Western Carolina
High jump
None
5,000-meter run
Madelynne Cadeau, Furman
Sinkenesh Parker, Samford
Alesea Caldwell, Western Carolina
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