WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. --- Tusculum University advanced to finals in five events on Saturday's opening day of the South Atlantic Conference Indoor Track & Field Championship, held at the JDL Fast Track.
Tusculum's men did not earn any team points on Saturday, but will have the top seed in three events in Sunday's finals as Widchard Guervil advanced in the 60 and 200 and Zackary Nelson set a meet record in prelims in the 400. Tusculum's Kenisha Stubbs qualified for finals in the women's 60 hurdles and 400 meters, while the distance medley relay team finished fourth to earn points in the team standings on day one.
The SAC Championship will resume Sunday morning with finals in eight track and three field events for both men and women, along with the finals in the men's heptathlon.
MEN'S RECAP
Guervil, who entered the meet as the top seed in both the 60 and 200 meters, maintained that status in Saturday's prelims by running 6.76 seconds in the 60 and 22.00 in the 200. He will be joined in the 60 finals by Gerard Hearst, who ran a career best and posted an NCAA qualifying time of 6.86 seconds to finish fourth overall and advance. Nelson also qualified for the finals in the 200 with a time of 22.28 seconds and is seeded eighth on Sunday.
Nelson ran 49.04 in the preliminaries in the 400 meters, his fourth-best time of the season but good enough to break the record of 49.60 seconds set by Lucas Besong of Lenoir-Rhyne in 2020. Also qualifying for the men's 400 finals was Stephen Brewer, whose career-best time of 50.36 qualified him sixth for Sunday's final.
In the 800 meters, Antonio Aparicio finished ninth and missed the finals by .11 seconds, running 1:56.98 for the fourth-best time of his career in the event. Gideon Dowling ran in the 5000 and finished 19th with a season-best time of 15:56.01, which moved him to fourth on the program performance list.
The Pioneers were ninth in the distance medley relay, with the quartet of Ray Richardson, David Saruni, Kyler Hodges and Aparicio running 11:02.29 for the fifth-best mark in program history.
Queens holds first place after five of 17 events with 56 points, with Lenoir-Rhyne in second with 30 points and Limestone in third with 26. Carson-Newman (25.5 points) and Wingate (18.5) close out the top five.
WOMEN'S RECAP
Stubbs had the third-best time of her career in the 60 hurdles, qualifying fourth for Sunday's finals with a time of 9.21 seconds. In the 400, Stubbs ran an even 1:00.00 and qualified seventh for the finals. I'Keriah Day was 12th in the 400 prelims with a time of 1:00.86 but failed to advance by less than a second.
Tusculum's distance medley relay team of Nicole Griffith, Judy Chellah, Celine McNally and Emily Coddington placed fourth with a time of 12:58.83, the second-best mark in school history.
Coddington ran the 800 meters and finished ninth overall at 2:24.04, her season best in the event and the second-best run of her Tusculum career. McNally was 16th in the 800 at 2:28.15, her season best in the event, while Griffith was 5:29.47 in the mile for her top time of the season.
In the weight throw, Amber Hogan was 14th overall at 11.99 meters (39 feet, 4 inches) which is her fourth-best mark of the season and ranks eighth in program history.
Queens leads the team standings after six of 17 events with 67.5 points, followed by Lenoir-Rhyne (50.5 points), Wingate (28.5), Anderson (22) and Catawba (18) in the top five.
South Atlantic Conference Indoor Track & Field Championship
at Winston-Salem, N.C. (Day 1 of 2)
Tusculum results
MEN
60: 1. Widchard Guervil, 6.76 (advances); 4. Gerard Hearst, 6.86 (advances); 12. Jarvis Barber Jr., 6.96; 13. Devan Hart, 6.96; 22. Marquel Pittman, 7.06; 32. Pierre Dupuy, 7.14.
200: 1. Widchard Guervil, 22.00 (advances); 8. Zackary Nelson, 22.28 (advances); 11. Jarvis Barber Jr., 22.41; 19. Marquel Pittman, 22.72; 21. Devan Hart, 22.78.
400: 1. Zackary Nelson, 49.04 (meet record/advances); 6. Stephen Brewer, 50.36 (advances); 13. David Saruni, 51.91; 16. Xavion Bogus, 52.12.
800: 9. Antonio Aparicio, 1:56.98; 20. Kyler Hodges, 2:04.37; 25. Carson Walls, 2:09.88.
5000: 19. Gideon Dowling, 15:56.01.
Distance medley relay: 9. Tusculum (Richardson, Saruni, Hodges, Aparicio), 11:02.29.
Team scores (5 of 17 events): Queens 56, Lenoir-Rhyne 30, Limestone 26, Carson-Newman 25.5; Wingate 18.5; Newberry 15, Lincoln Memorial 14, Anderson 5, Catawba 5, Tusculum 0, Mars Hill 0, Coker 0.
WOMEN
60: 18. Silvia Bah, 8.20.
60 hurdles: 4. Kenisha Stubbs, 9.21 (advances)
200: 17. Destiny Lottie, 26.95; 20. Silvia Bah, 27.42.
400: 7. Kenisha Stubbs, 1:00.00 (advances); 12. I'Keriah Day, 1:00.86; 20. Destiny Lottie, 1:02.49.
800: 9. Emily Coddington, 2:24.04; 16. Celine McNally, 2:28.15.
Mile: 20. Nicole Griffth, 5:29.47.
5000: 16. Javiera Ortiz, 19:34.47.
Distance medley relay: 4. Tusculum (Griffith, Chellah, McNally, Coddington), 12:58.83.
Weight throw: 14. Amber Hogan, 11.99m (39-4).
Team scores (6 of 17 events): Queens 67.5, Lenoir-Rhyne 50.5, Wingate 28.5, Anderson 22, Catawba 18, Carson-Newman 16, Limestone 10, Newberry 7.5, Lincoln Memorial 7, Tusculum 5, Mars Hill 1, Coker 0.
