GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- The Tusculum University men's and women's indoor track & field teams will compete in the third South Atlantic Conference Indoor Track & Field Championship, scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 29 and Sunday, March 1 at the JDL Fast Track in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
The Pioneer women finished fourth overall at last year's championship meet after taking eighth place in 2018, while the Tusculum men were sixth for the second straight year.
Competition will begin at noon on Saturday with the pentathlon and heptathlon, with preliminaries in track events starting at 4 p.m. On Sunday, action begins at 10 a.m. and continues until the last of 17 men's and 17 women's champions are crowned at approximately 2:30 Sunday afternoon.
WOMEN'S PREVIEW
Distance runner Nicole McMillen became Tusculum's first-ever SAC women's indoor champion last year, capturing gold in the mile with a time of 5:06.43. McMillen went on to excel in both the outdoor track and cross country seasons, earning Runner of the Year honors in both championship events.
The graduate student from Pickering, Ontario is the top seed in the 3,000 meters and 5,000 meters after setting school and conference records in both events during the regular season. McMillen finished the 3,000 meters in 9:39.38 at the Carolina Challenge on Jan. 31, and was timed at 16:46.16 at the Camel City Invitational on the JDL Fast Track on Feb. 7. McMillen is an NCAA Division II provisional qualifier in both events along with the mile, which she will not run despite also setting a SAC record of 4:53.57 at the USC Indoor Open on Feb. 22.
In the 400 meters, sophomore Hachlaine Petit is the top seed with a time of 56.65 seconds set at last weekend's USC Open. Her time is a school and conference record and is one second faster than the rest of the field, and just .12 seconds off the NCAA provisional time of 56.53. Ke'Lah McMiller is seeded fifth at 58.66 seconds and Kenisha Stubbs is seventh at 59.33 seconds, with Earthaiza Watkins (1:00.06) and Kesia Griffith (1:00.27) also entered.
The Pioneer 4x400-meter relay is also the top seed with a school, conference and NCAA provisional time of 3:50.05 set at the USC Open by the quartet of Petit, McMiller, Stubbs and Watkins.
Freshman Gabrielle Beckett is seeded fourth in the 800 meters after running a school-record time of 2:21.20 at the USC Open. In the 60-meter hurdles, Stubbs is seeded sixth at 9.22 seconds and Kayneshia Carter is entered in the 60 meters with a time of 8.19 seconds. Brianna Oats will also compete in the 60 hurdles after running 9.63 seconds during the season, and Brittany Bowery will run in the 800 meters with a seed time of 2:44.32.
Competing in the 200 meters for the Pioneers are McMiller, who is seeded 10th at 26.21 seconds set at the Carolina Challenge on Feb. 1. Also running are Petit (26.42 seconds), Aliyah Adderley (26.45 seconds), Watkins (26.55 seconds) and Carter (26.63 seconds). Freshman Emmi Hulse is entered in the 3000 meters with a time of 11:13.11 posted at the VMI Winter Relays on Feb. 8.
In field events, sophomore Alyssa Farmer is eighth in the shot put with a school-record mark of 12.09 meters (39 feet, 8 inches) set at the USC Open. She is also seeded 11th in the weight throw at 13.49 meters (44 feet, 3 1/4 inches) which was made at the Carolina Challenge. Tynaja Stewart is entered in the shot put (10.22 meters/33 feet, 6 1/2 inches)
Destini Wilson will be among eight competitors in the women's pentathlon, which consists of the 60-meter hurdles, 800 meters, high jump, shot put and long jump. Wilson is also entered in the high jump at 1.54 meters (5 feet, 1/2 inch) which she reached at the USC Open.
MEN'S PREVIEW
Junior sprinter Widchard Guervil is coming off one of the top all-around performances in his career last Saturday at the USC Open. Guervil won the 60 meters in 6.72 seconds, earned an NCAA automatic qualifying time of 21.29 seconds in the 200 meters, and ran the 4x400 relay that also set a school record with a time of 3:20.99. Guervil, the SAC indoor champion in the 60 meters in 2018, is seeded second in both the 60 and 200 behind Devon Moore of Carson-Newman with defending 60 champion P.J. Lotharp of Lenoir-Rhyne seeded third.
Thurlow Wilkins is seeded eighth in the 60 meters with a time of 6.93 seconds from the USC Open, and is 10th in the 200 meters at 22.95 seconds set at the Camel City Invitational on Feb. 7. Also running in the 60 meters for the Pioneers are Gerard Hearst (7.01 seconds), Devan Hart (7.15) and Giovanni Purser (7.16), with Hart also running in the 200 meters (23.00 seconds).
In the 400 meters, David Saruni is the ninth seed with a school-record time of 50.15 seconds established at the USC Open. Jontavus Walker, who is also running in the 200 meters, brings a seed time of 22.71 seconds from the Carolina Challenge on Feb. 1, with Isaac Hybarger (52.56 seconds), Tyree Hilliard (52.62) and Jonathan Julien (54.50) giving the Pioneers five entries. Saruni is also entered in the 200 meters for the Pioneers.
Junior Will Cronin will compete in both the 5000 meters Saturday night and the 3000 meters Sunday afternoon. Cronin is seeded fourth in the 5K after setting a school record of 14:54.28 at the Gamecock Opener on Jan. 18, and is seeded 10th in the 3000 meters as the school recordholder set at the Carolina Challenge of 8:43.04. Carson Walls will also run both events, seeded at 15:55.48 in the 5K and 9:23.74 in the 3K. Caleb Archer (15:54.60) will join Cronin and Walls in the 5000, with Kyler Hodges (8:57.05), Taylor Tupps (9:00.40) and Alex Perez (9:17.64) among the five Tusculum entries in the 3,000 meters.
Antonio Aparicio, who became the first Tusculum runner to break two minutes in the 800 meters by running 1:58.11 at the USC Open, is seeded ninth in the event and will be joined by Kyle Stanley, who had a season-best time of 2:01.11 at the Gamecock Opener on Jan. 18. Jamire Thompson will compete in the 60-meter hurdles for the Pioneers, earning his best time of the season at the Camel City Invitational on Feb. 7 at 9.12 seconds.
Tusculum's 4x400 relay team of Saruni, Guervil, Aparicio and Walker broke the school record by just over four seconds at the USC Open, and the time of 3:20.99 is currently fourth in the field behind Coker, Queens and Lenoir-Rhyne, with a spread of just 4 1/2 seconds separating the top five teams in the event.
In the field, Alex Higgins is seeded seventh in the shot put at 13.74 meters (45 feet, 1 inch) set at the USC Open, with Mike Peppin (12.22 meters/40 feet, 1 1/4) inches also competing along with Zach Lane (12.21 meters/40 feet, 3/4 inch). Evan Grooms is entered in the weight throw at 12.18 meters (39 feet, 11 1/2 inches) and is also competing in the shot put for the first time this season, with a career-best mark of 11.76 meters (38 feet, 7 inches).
Pierre Dupuy will compete in both the long jump and the triple jump for the Pioneers, owning a season-best mark of 5.46 meters (17 feet, 11 inches) in the long jump and making his first attempt at the triple jump. Joining Dupuy in the long jump are Purser, who went 5.29 meters (17 feet, 4 1/4 inches) at the Camel City Invitational, and Thompson, who has a career-best mark of 6.10 meters (20 feet, 1/4 inch) set last year at the Buccaneer Invitational.
