SoCon announces OTF Athletes of the Week

SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Furman’s Ethan Domitrovich and Samford’s Arthur Chitty have been named the Southern Conference men’s outdoor track and field athletes of the week, respectively. Additionally, Western Carolina’s Shaneil Lysight and Samford’s Erin Long claimed women’s outdoor track and field athletes of the week honors, respectively, the conference office announced Wednesday.  

Selections were made by panels of the league’s track and field coaches and included all competition from April 23-29.  

Samford competed at the Jaguar Outdoor Invitational in Mobile, Alabama, on April 26-27.  

Chitty competed in the high jump, achieving a school record and personal best mark of 2.22m, which leads the SoCon by .8 meters. With this performance, the Samford sophomore is ranked fifth in the nation in the event.  

Long won the women’s javelin with a mark of 49.43m. The Bulldog senior is now the league leader in the event by nearly four meters and is 20^th in the East Region.  

On April 25, Domitrovich competed at the Payton Jordan Invitational in Palo Alto, California. The Paladin senior placed sixth in the 3,000m steeplechase. This performance ranks him second in the SoCon and No. 30 in the East Region. 

Lysight competed at the Catamount Classic on April 25-26. The Catamount junior placed second in the 100m hurdles with a time of 13.88 seconds. This performance was a personal best for Lysight, and ranks third in the conference. The St. Andrew, Jamaica, native also competed in the 400m hurdles, where she ran a personal best of 1:02.96, and helped the 4x400m relay squad to a silver finish.  

Western Carolina now has its focus set on the SoCon Outdoor Championship, which is slated for May 12-13 at Samford, while Furman and Samford each have one more stop prior to the conference championship. On May 2-3, the Paladins will be at the Music City Challenge in Nashville, Tennessee, and the Bulldogs travel to the Mississippi State Invitational in Starkville, Mississippi. 

Also nominated (Men): Ethan Long (Western Carolina – Track), Arthur Parham (Field – The Citadel), Austin Ramirez (Western Carolina – Field)  

Also nominated (Women): Kelsey Martin (Samford – Track), Ali Wilson-Ruffin (Field – The Citadel), Ericka Jackson (Western Carolina – Field)  

2024-25 Southern Conference Outdoor Track and Field Athletes of the Week   

Men’s track   

March 26 Jason Bowers, ETSU 

April 2 Matthew Smith, Furman 

April 9 Zephaniah Carico-McLennan, Samford 

April 16 Bradley Franklin, Samford 

April 23 Dylan Schubert, Furman  

April 30 Ethan Domitrovich, Furman 

Women’s track  

March 26 Micailah Cook, ETSU  

April 2 Carly Wilkes, Furman 

April 9 Grace Lueders, Samford 

April 16 Lesley Boyd, Chattanooga 

April 23 Carly Wilkes, Furman  

April 30 Shaneil Lysight, Western Carolina  

Men’s field  

March 26 Brent Bell, ETSU 

April 2 Arthur Parham, The Citadel 

April 9 Carter Ellis, Samford   

April 16 Kyle Kaufelds, Samford 

April 23 Brent Bell, ETSU  

April 30 Arthur Chitty, Samford 

Women’s field 

March 26 Ali Wilson-Ruffin, The Citadel 

April 2 Ali Wilson-Ruffin, The Citadel 

April 9 Tya Blake, ETSU  

April 16 Sherika Christie, Wofford  

April 23 Stella Henry, Chattanooga  

April 30 Erin Long, Samford