ANDERSON, S.C. --- Shanee Angol won the women's javelin and the Tusculum University men's track and field team advanced five runners to finals on the opening day of the South Atlantic Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championship at Anderson University on Thursday.
Tusculum's women are in eighth place through eight of 21 events, while the Pioneer men are in ninth place with eight events complete. Competition resumes Friday morning at Anderson as champions will be crowned in 13 men's and 13 women's events, along with team and individual awards.
WOMEN'S RECAP
Angol became the first Tusculum thrower to win a SAC gold medal as she came through with a top mark of 40.18 meters (131 feet, 10 inches). The throw was her fourth-best of the season and ninth-best of her Tusculum career, but was good enough to defeat runner-up Lacey Triplett of Lenoir-Rhyne by 1.53 meters, or jusr over five feet.
Emily Coddington captured eighth place in the steeplechase with a time of 12:31.02, while Amber Hogan took 12th place in the hammer throw with a toss of 35.75 meters (117 feet, 3 inches). Coddington was clocked at 4:51.82 in the 1500 meters, just shy of her season-best time of 4:51.01 set at the Catamount Classic on April 15 and the seventh-fastest in program history.
Kenisha Stubbs bounced back after falling in preliminaries in the 100-meter hurdles by qualifying for Friday's final in the 400 hurdles with a time of 1:07.72. Stubbs, the defending SAC champion in the 400 hurdles, has the top nine marks in the 400 hurdles in program history.
Destiny Lottie posted her best time of the season in the 400 meters, running 1:01.36 to move into seventh place on the program performance list in the event. In the 100 meters, both Silvia Bah and Emerald Jones recorded their best times of the season, with Bah running 12.94 and Jones coming home in 14.18 seconds.
Lenoir-Rhyne leads the team standings with 92.5 points, with Queens in second place with 54.5 points. Wingate is third at 43 points, followed by Carson-Newman in fourth with 33 points and Newberry in fifth with 26 points. Catawba (21 points) is sixth, followed by Anderson (18 points) in seventh, Tusculum (11 points) in eighth, Coker (eight points) in ninth and Limestone in tenth with five points. Mars Hill and Lincoln Memorial have not scored any points through eight events.
MEN'S RECAP
David Saruni took fifth place in the javelin with a best throw of 51.38 meters (168 feet, 7 inches) and also advanced to the finals of the 400 hurdles by taking fifth in preliminaries at 55.34 seconds. Saruni's mark in the javelin was the second-best in program history while his 400 hurdles time ranks fourth all-time at Tusculum.
Marquel Pittman moved on to the finals in the 100 meters, running a season-best time of 10.45 seconds to advance on time into Friday's final. His time is tied for the fourth-fastest in program history. Jarvis Barber Jr. advanced in the 200 meters as he ran a season-best time of 21.41 seconds, seventh-fastest in school history and putting him second on the program performance list. Devan Hart just missed finals in the 200 but ran a career-best time of 21.63 in prelims, which moved hi to fourth on the Tusculum performance list.
Zackary Nelson qualified for the finals in the 400 meters, winning his heat and placing third in preliminaries with a time of 48.15 seconds. Xavion Bogus had a season-best time of 50.66 seconds to move into fourth place on the program performance list, and took 14th place overall. Antonio Aparicio qualified for the finals in the 800 meters as he took fourth in prelims at 1:54.56, just short of his school-record time of 1:54.26.
The men's 4x100-meter relay team of Gerard Hearst, Barber, Pittman and Hart broke the school record with a time of 40.45 seconds, but finished fourth in a race that saw the top three teams (Carson-Newman, Limestone and Lenoir-Rhyne) all post among the 10 fastest times of the season in Division II. The previous record of 40.55 seconds was set April 16 at the Catamount Classic.
Wingate leads the team standings through eight events with 69.5 points, with Lenoir-Rhyne a close second at 67 points. Queens is third at 54 points, with Carson-Newman (36.5 points) in fourth and Limestone (32) in fifth. Newberry holds sixth place through day one with 21 points, followed by Anderson in seventh with 11 points, Catawba at 10 points in eighth, Tusculum in ninth with nine points and Coker in 10th with two points. Mars Hill and Lincoln Memorial have yet to score.
South Atlantic Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championship
at Anderson, S.C. - Day 1 of 2
Tusculum results
MEN
Preliminaries
100: 4. Marquel Pittman, 10.45 (advances); 9. Gerard Hearst, 10.63; 13. Devan Hart, 10.72; 16. Jarvis Barber Jr., 10.73; 23. Pierre Dupuy, 10.94; 26. Joshua Stephens, 11.01.
200: 5. Jarvis Barber Jr., 21.41 (advances); 10. Devan Hart, 21.63; 21. Joshua Stephens, 22.51; 22. Gerard Hearst, 22.55; 29. Landen Locklear, 23.91.
400: 3. Zackary Nelson, 48.15 (advances); 14. Xavion Bogus, 50.66; 17. Stephen Brewer, 50.82; 23. Landen Locklear, 52.32.
800: 4. Antonio Aparicio, 1:54.56 (advances); 30. Evan Bruce, 2:08.27; 32. Carson Walls, 2:15.46.
1500: 25. Kyler Hodges, 4:18.41.
400 hurdles: 5. David Saruni, 55.34 (advances).
Finals
Steeplechase: 15. Kyler Hodges, 10:57.28.
10000: 13. Ray Richardson, 32:36.20.
4x100: 4. Tusculum (Hearst, Barber, Pittman, Hart), 40.45 (school record).
Javelin: 5. David Saruni, 51.38m (168 feet, 7 inches).
Team scores (8 of 21 events): 1. Wingate 69.5; 2. Lenoir-Rhyne 67; 3. Queens 54; 4. Carson-Newman 36.5; 5. Limestone 32; 6. Newberry 21; 7. Anderson 11; 8. Catawba 10; 9. Tusculum 9; 10. Coker 2.
WOMEN
Preliminaries
100: 20. Silvia Bah, 12.94; 29. Emerald Jones, 14.18.
200: 15. Destiny Lottie, 26.26; 16. Silvia Bah, 26.53; 25. Emerald Jones, 29.45.
400: 18. Destiny Lottie, 1:01.36; 21. Earthaiza Watkins, 1:05.49.
800: 18. Judy Chellah, 2:28.31.
1500: 15. Emily Coddington, 4:51.82.
100 hurdles: Kenisha Stubbs, DNF.
400 hurdles: 8. Kenisha Stubbs, 1:07.72 (advances).
Finals
Steeplechase: 8. Emily Coddington, 12:31.02.
10000: 17. Javiera Ortiz, 40:22.07.
Javelin: 1. Shanee Angol, 40.18m (131 feet, 10 inches).
Hammer throw: 12. Amber Hogan, 35.75m (117 feet, 3 inches).
Team scores (8 of 21 events): 1. Lenoir-Rhyne 92.5; 2. Queens 54.5; 3. Wingate 43; 4. Carson-Newman 33; 5. Newberry 26; 6. Catawba 21; 7. Anderson 18; 8. Tusculum 11; 9. Coker 8; 10. Limestone 5.