GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- The Tusculum University men's and women's track and field teams will compete at the South Atlantic Conference Indoor Track & Field Championship on Saturday and Sunday at the JDL Fast Track in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
The Pioneers will compete in 12 men's and 10 women's events during the two-day meet, which includes athletes from 12 SAC schools. Competition for the Pioneers will begin at 1:00 Saturday afternoon and at 10:30 Sunday morning.
Last year, Tusculum's men finished sixth and the women took ninth place at the SAC Indoor Championship.
MEN'S PREVIEW
Tusculum has four of the top 10 entries in the 60 meters, led by senior Marquel Pittman (Tallahassee, Fla.) who is the top seed at 6.73 seconds which he set at VMI on Jan. 27. Pittman's time is currently 11th-fastest in Division II this season.
Junior Tyrell Edwards (Toco, Trinidad and Tobago) is seeded fifth at 6.78 seconds which he ran at the Mondo College Invitational on Jan. 14 and is 22nd-fastest in Division II so far this year. Senior Jordan Taylor (Miramar, Fla.) is seeded 7th at 6.84 seconds which he ran at VMI on Feb. 4, and senior Devan Hart (Bonaire, Ga.) is the 10th seed at 6.86 seconds from the Commonwealth College Opener on Dec. 3.
Senior Jarvis Barber Jr. (Ocala, Fla.) is entered with a time of 6.92 seconds, along with freshman Isaiah Olson (Greeneville, Tenn.) at 6.97 seconds and freshman Keelen Lester (Greeneville, Tenn.) at 7.31 seconds.
Pittman is also Tusculum's top seed in the 200 meters, having run 21.82 seconds at the VMI Winter Classic on Jan. 28. Joining him in the field are Barber (22.38), Hart (22.44), Olson (22.62), Edwards (22.84) and Lester (23.60).
Senior Zackary Nelson (St. Johns, Fla.) set the SAC meet record of 48.49 seconds in the 400 meters and won the gold medal at last year's championship. This season, Nelson has beaten that time on three occasions including a school-record 47.54 seconds at the VMI Winter Relays on Feb. 4 which is 10th-best in Division II this season.
Joining Nelson in the 400 will be junior Dorian Craven (Dallas, Texas), who is seeded 10th and ran 50.00 at the VMI Winter Relays on Feb. 4, along with sophomore Stephen Brewer (Winston-Salem, N.C.) who was clocked at 50.05 seconds at the Vanderbilt Invitational on Jan. 21. Also competing will be sophomore Xavion Bogus (Knoxville, Tenn.) with a seed time of 52.62 seconds.
In the 800 meters, senior Antonio Aparicio (Paterna, Spain) is seeded fourth after setting a school record of 1:55.11 at the VMI Winter Relays. Freshman DeWayne Morris (Knoxville, Tenn.) is the sixth seed with a time of 1:57.16 also from the VMI Winter Relays.
Freshman Jerry Ricker (Kingsport, Tenn.) is entered in the mile run with a seed time of 4:49.13.
Competing in the 60 hurdles for the Pioneers are junior Jamal Cash (Kingman, Ariz.), who is seeded ninth at 8.53 seconds set at the Commonwealth College Opener on Dec. 3. Freshman Daryl Smith Jr. (Rockledge, Fla.) is 11th at 8.72 seconds set at the Mondo College Invitational on Jan. 14.
The Pioneer 4x400 relay team is seeded second at 3:16.86, which was a school-record performance from Barber, Nelson, Pittman and Brewer at Vanderbilt on Jan. 21. Tusculum will also enter a distance medley relay team in the meet.
In jumps, Smith is seeded sixth in the triple jump with a school-record mark of 14.46 meters (47 feet, 5 1/4 inches) set at the VMI Winter Classic on Jan. 27. Cash and freshman Carlos Turner (Florissant, Mo.) are entered in the long jump, with Cash at 6.55 meters and Turner at 5.10 meters.
Tusculum will be well-represented in throws by a trio of freshmen, as Adrian Gumm (Maryville, Tenn.), Mikeal Pillar (Greeneville, Tenn.) and Gavin Rowell (Melbourne, Fla.) will compete in both the shot put and weight throw.
Gumm is seeded seventh in the shot put with a school-record mark of 14.54 meters (47 feet, 8 1/2 inches) set at Vanderbilt, while Pillar is 15th at 12.67 meters and Rowell 18th at 12.17 meters. In the weight throw, Gumm's seed mark is also a school record of 13.96 set at the VMI Winter Relays, with Pillar (13.42 meters) and Rowell (9.24 meters) also entered.
WOMEN'S PREVIEW
Tusculum has five entries in the 60 meters, led by freshman Theresa Green-White (Stafford, Texas) who is seeded sixth with a school-record time of 7.73 seconds set at the VMI Winter Relays on Feb. 4. Freshman Kiera Taylor (Kissimmee, Fla.) is seeded eighth at 7.80 seconds set at the Commonwealth College opener on Dec. 3, while grad student Kylia Wright (Knightdale, N.C.) is seeded 10th after running 7.83 seconds at the Mondo College Invitational on Jan. 14. Also entered are senior Aliyah Adderley (Nassau, Bahamas) at 7.99 seconds and sophomore Silvia Bah (Cary, N.C) at 8.27 seconds.
Wright is Tusculum's top seed in the 200 meters in eighth with a converted time of 25.73 seconds, with Taylor seeded 16th at 26.14 seconds and Green-White at 26.44 seconds. In the 400 meters, Bah is entered with a time of 1:05.28 while Adderley is seeded at 1:05.68.
Junior Emily Coddington (Acosta, Pa.) is seeded ninth in the 800 meters with a season-best time of 2:22.51 set at the VMI Winter Relays on Feb. 4. Freshman Inmaculada Delgado (Seville, Spain) is also entered with a time of 2:33.30. Coddington is entered in the mile and did not post a time during the season, though her career best is 5:17.94 which would be sixth-fastest among the entries in the field.
Green-White is Tusculum's lone entry in the 60 hurdles, ranked fourth with a school-record time of 8.99 seconds set at the Mondo College Invitational on Jan. 14.
Tusculum is entered in both the 4x400 relay and the distance medley relay, with the 4x400 team seeded eighth at 4:15.98.
Sophomore Amber Hogan (Piedmont, S.C.) is Tusculum's lone thrower, seeded ninth in the weight throw with a school-record mark of 14.02 meters (46 feet) set at the VMI Winter Relays and 18th in the shot put at 10.12 meters.
