HICKORY, N.C. -- By way of podium finished, personal bests and school records, Anderson's track and field teams competed the South Atlantic Conference Championships on Tuesday with the men's squad taking home fifth place and the women's group claiming a program-best third-place finish.
"I could not be more proud of our teams how they performed all around," said Men and Women's Track and Field Head Coach Kevin Eagle. "We had so many school records, conference champions, podium finishes and personal bests. It was a full team effort! It's always nice to put it all together at the meet that means the most."
The women's 4x400 relay team of Lacey Boozer, Brianna Quartararo, Ally Macurda and Emma Deadwyler won gold with a program record time of 3:51.
The Trojans dominated the pole vault competition, taking four of the six podium finishes. Sophomores Lambdin Hardy (Commerce, Ga.) and Kirsten Leonard (Hoover Ala.) both won gold for the Black and Gold with personal best, program record jumps at 4.57 meters and 3.58 meters respectively.
Lucas Pryor (Greer, S.C.) followed just behind Hardy with a personal best, 4.37-meter second-place finish, while Rylie Jenkins (Loranger, La.) took third on the women's side with a 3.28-meter mark. Jorja Fox (Easley, S.C.) and Madison Crumley (Pelzer, S.C.) finished fourth and fifth, as the Trojans possessed four of the Top-5 spots in women's pole vault.
Sophomore Elliot Dotson (Greenville, S.C.) added to his career year, running for a 14:40 mark to win the men's 5,000-meter race.
Junior Lacey Boozer (Simpsonville, S.C.) broke the standing program record in the women's 400-meter dash with time of 55.02 seconds for a third-place finish. Freshman Kennedy Roush (Greenville, S.C.) also finished third, completing the women's 10,000-meter in 36:50.
The women's high jump saw a four-way tie for second place with sophomore Georgia Piper (Dacula, Ga.) adding 5.75 points to Anderson's score, while freshman Jordan Gross (Chester, Va.) and junior Simeon Respress (Cornelia, Ga.) tied to break the AU record in the men's high jump, securing the points to push Anderson into a sole fifth-place finish.
Adding to Anderson's success, several Trojans notched personal records on the week. Freshman Abby Kwansy (Winston-Salem, N.C.) set personal bests in the 100-meter hurdles (16.62) and 400-meter hurdles (1:09). Freshmen Nahshon Suchanek (Clover, S.C.) claimed a 1.91-meter high jump mark and Chase Brightharp (Johnston, S.C.) scored a 38.16-meter discus throw.
The Trojans' 4x400 men's relay team (Ben Molitor, Darrion Perry, Ian Macurda, Cullen Ussery) ran a program record 3:19 race, while freshmen David Brown (Menomonie, Wis.) recorded his best decathlon score (5074) and Ally Macurda (Charlotte, N.C.) finished with a personal best heptathlon score of 3982.
"With such a young team on both sides," said Eagle, "the future looks extremely bright as we continue to build."
Trojan Results
Men's hammer throw – Smith (32.39)
Men's pole vault – Hardy (4.57), Pryor (4.37), Farris (4.07), O'Cain (4.22), Brown (3.77)
Women's long jump – Long (4.67), Murawski (4.52)
Women's hammer throw – Wimpee (36.61)
Women's pole vault – Jenkins (3.28), Leonard (3.58), Fox (3.13), Crumley (2.68)
Men's long jump – Mckinnie (6.62)
Women's javelin throw – Bell (24.78)
Women 1500m prelims - Mclayne Wyatt (5:09)
Men 110m hurdles prelims – Cantrell (16.60)
Women's 100m hurdles prelims – Kwansy (16.62)
Men 400m prelims – Molitor (49.89), Ussery (49.88), Macurda (51.41)
Men 100m prelims – Mckinnie (10.96)
Men 800m prelims – Trusty (1:59)
Men 400m hurdles prelims – Perry (55.33)
Women 400m hurdles prelims - Kwansy (1:09)
Women 3000m steeplechase – Crumley (12:40)
Men 10000m – Dentler (32:38), Nelson (32:09), Barrett (34:23), Williams (34:22)
Women 10000m – Roush (36:50), Golden (36:55), Nelson (40:33), Schmitt (38:16)
Women's discus throw – Wimpee (35.21)
Men's shot put – Cooke (10.73), Brightharp (12.54), Smith (10.49)
Women's high jump – Piper (1.60)
Men's triple jump – Gross (13.16)
Men's discus throw – Cooke (36.50), Brightharp (38.16)
Women's shot put – Wimpee (9.92), Macurda (10.34)
Men's high jump – Respress (1.96), Gross (1.96), Suchanek (1.91)
Women's triple jump – Long (10.47), Murawski (9.40)
Men 4x100 - Mckinnie, Molitor, Perry, Ussery (41.83)
Women 4x100 - Hayden, Boozer, Kwansy, Long (50.43)
Men 1500m finals - Similton (3:56)
Women 400m finals - Boozer (55.02)
Women 800m finals - Quartararo (2:17), Whitaker (2:23)
Men 5000m – Dotson (14:40)
Women 5000m – Roush (17:54), Golden (18:08), Matthews (18:48), Schmitt (18:47), Wyatt (19:28), Rudolph (19:53)
Men 4x400 - Molitor, Perry, Macurda, Ussery (3:19)
Women 4x400 - Boozer, Quartararo, Macurda, Deadwyler (3:51)
