SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Samford claimed four of the eight Southern Conference outdoor track and field individual awards between its men’s and women’s programs in a vote of the league’s head coaches following the SoCon Outdoor Track and Field Championships over the weekend. The Bulldogs swept the team titles at their home facility, with the men winning their fourth crown and the women their fifth.
 
Coaches were not allowed to vote for their own student-athletes or themselves.
 
Samford swept the most outstanding field performer awards, with Matt Cahoon winning on the men’s side for the second straight year and Hannah Daffin taking the honor on the women’s side. Rod Tiffin was voted the coach of the year for both the men and women for the second straight season.
 
VMI’s Jordin Poindexter was named the men’s most outstanding track performer for the second straight season, while Western Carolina’s Marissa Blakely took the honor on the women’s side. Furman swept the freshman of the year awards, with Matthew Smith and Madelynne Cadeau taking the honors.
 
Samford’s Cahoon, who scored a meet-high 28 points to also earn most outstanding athlete honors for the second straight season, scored in five field events, including three podium finishes. The graduate student from Cullman, Alabama, finished second in the discus and the javelin and finished third in the hammer throw. Cahoon also finished fifth in the high jump and seventh in the shot put. Cahoon becomes Samford’s second-ever back-to-back winner of the field award and the first since Sidney Jordan claimed it in 2014 and 2015.
 
Samford’s Daffin claimed the women’s field honor after scoring 24 points at the meet. The junior from Mobile, Alabama, secured a pair of wins, finishing first in both the hammer throw and the shot put for her first career SoCon titles in both. Daffin also finished fifth in the discus. Samford has now won the women’s most outstanding field performer each of the last five times it has been presented and seven times overall.
 
VMI’s Poindexter medaled in four events for the second straight year to total 24 points on the weekend. The senior from Richmond, Virginia, won the 100-meter dash and 200-meter dash, claiming the latter for the second straight season. Poindexter also ran legs on both Keydet relays, running the second leg on VMI’s 4x400-meter unit that won its second straight title and leading off the 4x100-meter relay, which took third for the second straight year. He is the first VMI runner to earn most outstanding track performer honors in consecutive seasons.
 
Western Carolina’s Blakely scored 27.75 points in the meet, also earning most outstanding athlete honors. Blakely exceled on the track as well as in the field, scoring in five events total and turning in three podium finishes on the track. The junior from Concord, North Carolina, won the 200-meter dash and the 400-meter dash and ran the second leg on the Catamounts’ 4x100-meter relay, which took bronze. Blakely also ran the third leg on WCU’s 4x400-meter relay, which finished fourth, and finished just off the podium in fourth in the high jump, as well. Blakely’s award is the sixth for the Catamount women, with Dasha Arnault last capturing track performer of the year honors in 2017 and 2018.
 
Furman’s Smith scored in a pair of events for the Paladins, including winning the 800-meter run in meet-record time. The rookie from Leesburg, Virginia, erased a record that had stood for 45 years, turning in a time of 1:48.37 to supplant the mark of 1:49.20 set by Furman’s Phil Barker in 1977. Smith also finished seventh in the 1,500-meter run to total 12 points on the weekend. He is Furman’s second-ever outdoor freshman of the year and first since Aaron Templeton in 2016.
Furman’s Cadeau turned in a pair of podium finishes for the Paladins, totaling 14 points on the weekend. The redshirt freshman from Cumming, Georgia, finished second in the 1,500-meter run behind teammate Megan Marvin and took third in the 5,000-meter run as the Paladins completed a podium sweep in the event. Cadeau is Furman’s third outdoor freshman of the year and first since Allie Buchalski in 2015.
 
Samford’s Tiffin was named the coach of the year for the seventh time on the men’s side and the fourth time on the women’s side. Tiffin led his squads to the outdoor sweep for the second straight season, with both of them jumping out to big day-one leads and building on them on day two. Samford’s women set two meet records, with Brittany Bishop clearing 4.01 meters in the pole vault and Erin Long crushing the javelin record, with her throw of 51.02 meters adding nearly seven meters to the previous standard. The Bulldog men and women each claimed seven event titles.
 
 
Male Most Outstanding Track Performer
Jordin Poindexter, VMI
 
Female Most Outstanding Track Performer
Marissa Blakely, Western Carolina
 
Male Most Outstanding Field Performer
Matt Cahoon, Samford
 
Female Most Outstanding Field Performer
Hannah Daffin, Samford
 
Male Freshman of the Year
Matthew Smith, Furman
 
Female Freshman of the Year
Madelynne Cadeau, Furman
 
Men’s Coach of the Year
Rod Tiffin, Samford
 
Women’s Coach of the Year
Rod Tiffin, Samford