McMillen takes gold in mile, Pioneer women place 4th, men 6th at SAC Championships

McMillen takes gold in mile, Pioneer women place 4th, men 6th at SAC Championships

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. --- Nicole McMillen won gold in the women's mile run and finished second in the 3000 meters as Tusculum University concluded competition at the South Atlantic Conference Indoor Track & Field Championships Sunday at the JDL Fast Track.

McMillen set a meet record in winning the mile by 9 1/2 seconds, then took silver in the 3000 meters as the Pioneer women finished fourth overall in the field of 11 teams. Raygene Minus took second place in the 400 meters and ran leadoff for the 4x400 relay team that was runner-up for Tusculum.

The Pioneer men finished sixth overall as Guillaume Devries placed second in the high jump to earn a spot on the medal stand during Sunday's competition. Tusculum had five scoring performances on Sunday after scoring in three events on Saturday, including a second-place effort by Luis Morris in the pole vault.

WOMEN
McMillen opened track events on Sunday by blazing to victory in the mile run with a time of 5:06.43, nearly 10 seconds ahead of runner-up Hannah Wolkenhauer of Queens who was timed in 5:16.05. In the 3000 meters, it was Wolkenhauer who got the best of McMillen as she finished first in 10:07.90, followed by McMillen in 10:12.72.

Minus was one of three Pioneers in the finals of the 400 meters, and took second place with a time of 58.89 seconds that broke the meet record, but was just behind the 58.50 posted by gold medalist Saidah Hardwick of Lenoir-Rhyne.

Earthaiza Watkins finished fourth in the 400 meters with a season-best time of 59.76 seconds, and I'Keriah Day was sixth in 1:00.25. Day was fourth overall in the 200 meters with a time of 26.03 seconds.

The 4x400-meter relay team of Minus, Day, Ke'Lah Miller and Watkins set a school record with a time of 3:57.65, finishing second to Lenoir-Rhyne by 2.42 seconds.

In field events, Alyssa Farmer threw 11.68 meters (38 feet, 4 inches) in the shot put to finish in fifth place overall. Dynah Dunn had a season-best mark of 10.85 meters (35 feet, 7 1/4 inches) to finish in 10th place.

Destini Wilson tied her season-best mark in the high jump of 1.57 meters (5 feet, 1 3/4 inches) and finished in a tie for second place with seven other jumpers. However, she placed eighth in the final standings based on number of misses.

Queens won the team championship with 188 points, followed by Lenoir-Rhyne (134), Wingate (91), Tusculum (58) and Catawba (45) in the top five.

MEN
Devries and Isaiah Kyle of Wingate were locked in competition with Jahvad McDermott of Carson-Newman in the high jump. All three were still alive after clearing 2.05 meters on the first try, but McDermott was eliminated when the bar was raised to 2.10 meters.

Devries was successful on his third attempt at the height, but had to settle for silver as Kyle cleared on his first try to win gold. Devries' 2.10-meter jump (6 feet, 10 3/4 inches) was the third time this year he has reached that mark.

Widchard Guervil finished fourth in the 60 meters (6.89 seconds) and took eighth in the 200 meters (23.05 seconds). Also scoring for the Pioneers was Jamire Thompson, who was seventh in the 60 hurdles with a time of 8.72 seconds.

Will Cronin was sixth in the 3000 meters with a time of 8:49.66 that broke his own school record by just over 5 1/2 seconds. Kyler Hodges took ninth place for the Pioneers in the mile run (4:28.91) and was 10th in the 3000 meters with a time of 9:01.04.

Thompson also had a team season-best mark in the triple jump of 12.49 meters (40 feet, 11 3/4 inches) for 14th place, and Christian Sisto was 13th in the shot put with a throw of 13.46 meters (44 feet, 2 inches).

Queens piled up 184 points to win the team championship, followed by Lenoir-Rhyne (131), Carson-Newman (112), Wingate (81) and Catawba (59) in the top five, ahead of Tusculum's 32 points in sixth.

South Atlantic Conference Indoor Track & Field Championships
at JDL Fast Track, Winston-Salem, N.C. (Day 2 of 2)

MEN
Sunday Finals
60: 4. Widchard Guervil, 6.89.
60 hurdles: 7. Jamire Thompson, 8.72.
200: 8. Widchard Guervil, 23.05.
400: Althiery Leontes, DNF.
Mile: 9. Kyler Hodges, 4:28.91.
3000: 6. Will Cronin, 8:49.66; 10. Kyler Hodges, 9:01.04; 32. Alejandro Perez, 9:40.18; 34. Carson Walls, 9:44.30.
4x400: 9. Tusculum (Hilliard, Johnson, Hybarger, Stanley), 3:31.83.
Shot put: 13. Christian Sisto, 13.46m (44-2).
High jump: 2. Guillaume Devries, 2.10m (6-10 3/4).
Triple jump: 14. Jamire Thompson, 12.49m (40-11 3/4).

Saturday Finals
5000: 5. Will Cronin, 15:09.07; 20. Carson Walls, 16:31.74.
Distance Medley Relay: 8. Tusculum (Tupps, Johnson, Hybarger, Hodges), 10:53.07.
Pole Vault: 2. Luis Morris, 4.25m (13-11 1/4).
Weight throw: 17. Evan Grooms, 12.57m (41-3); 25. Joseph Schwarz, 10.31m (33-10).
Long jump: 31. Jamire Thompson, 5.65m (18-6 1/2); 33. Kedar Ashford, 5.55m (18-2 1/2).

TEAM: 1. Queens, 184; 2. Lenoir-Rhyne, 131; 3. Carson-Newman, 112; 4. Wingate, 81; 5. Catawba, 59; 6. Tusculum, 32; 7. Coker, 28; 8. Newberry, 14; 9. Mars Hill, 11; 10. Lincoln Memorial, 5; 11. Anderson, 4.

WOMEN
Sunday Finals
200: 6. I'Keriah Day, 26.03.
400: 2. Raygene Minus, 58.32; 5. Earthaiza Watkins, 59.76; 6. I'Keriah Day, 1:00.25.
Mile: 1. Nicole McMillen, 5:06.43.
3000: 2. Nicole McMillen, 10:12.72; 18. Alissa Furches, 11:04.91; 28. Brooklyn Smith, 12:11.17.
4x400: 2. Tusculum (Minus, Day, McMiller, Watkins), 3:57.65.
Shot put: 5. Alyssa Farmer, 11.68m (38-4); 10. Dynah Dunn, 10.85m (35-7 1/4); 26. Tynaja Stewart, 9.05m (29-8 1/4).
High jump: 8. Destini Wilson, 1.57m (5-1 3/4).

Saturday Finals
5000: 6. Alissa Furches, 18:38.52.
Distance medley relay: 7. Tusculum (Boyce, Griffith, Angulo, Furches), 13:26.21.
Long jump: 10. Destini Wilson, 5.19m (17-1/2); 11. Brianna Oats, 5.11m (16-9 1/4).
Weight throw: 21. Alyssa Farmer, 10.35m (33-11 1/2); 23. Dynah Dunn, 9.49m (31-1 3/4).
Pentathlon: 6. Brianna Oats, 2,658 points.

TEAM: 1. Queens, 188; 2. Lenoir-Rhyne, 134; 3. Wingate, 91; 4. Tusculum, 58; 5. Catawba, 45; 6. Carson-Newman 43.5; 7. Coker, 27; 8. Mars Hill, 26.5; 9. Anderson, 24; 10. Lincoln Memorial, 16; 11. Newberry, 9.