GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- The Tusculum University men's and women's outdoor track and field teams will compete at the two-day South Atlantic Conference Championship, which will be held Thursday and Friday, May 5 and 6 at Anderson University.
Last season, the Tusculum men finished sixth and women placed eighth at the Outdoor championship meet. In February, Tusculum's men were sixth and women ninth at the SAC Indoor Championship. The SAC coaches picked the Pioneer men for sixth and women for eighth place at this year's SAC Outdoor Championship.
Competition will begin at 10 a.m. Thursday in the decathlon and heptathlon, with field events commencing at 10:30 a.m. and track events at 12:30 p.m. Finals will be held in a total of eight men's and eight women's events on Thursday, with trials in seven additional men's and women's events. On Friday, the multi events will start at 8 a.m., followed by field events at 10 a.m. and finals in track events at 10:20 a.m. A total of 21 men's and women's events will crown champions before the meet concludes with awards at 2:30 p.m. on Friday.
MEN'S PREVIEW
Tusculum will be well-represented in sprints, with junior Jarvis Barber Jr. seeded second in the 100 meters at 10.39 seconds which he ran at the Catamount Classic on April 15. Barber's mark is the third-fastest in program history and ranks him 16th in Division II this season. Senior Gerard Hearst is seeded eighth at 10.56 seconds, while juniors Marquel Pittman (10.58 seconds) and Devan Hart (10.60 seconds) provide depth for a Pioneer 100 meter unit that entered the week ranked among the top five in Division II.
Barber is also the Pioneers' top seed in the 200 meters at 21.74 seconds, followed by sophomore Jordan Taylor at 21.85 seconds. Hart is also inside the top 20 in the conference in the 200 meters at 22.03 seconds, as is freshman Joshua Stephens with a seed time of 22.07. Stephens will also compete in the 100 meters and in the triple jump, where he is seeded 10th following a pair of jumps of 13.95 meters (45 feet, 9 1/4 inches) during the season.
In the 400 meters, junior Zackary Nelson is the defending SAC Indoor champion and built upon that success by earning the second seed in the Outdoor championship with a school-record time of 47.46 seconds which he set at the Catamount Classic to rank him 17th in Division II. Freshman Stephen Brewer is also seeded inside the top 20 with a time of 50.04, after finishing fifth in the event at the SAC Indoor championship. A pair of freshmen will also compete for the Pioneers, as Xavion Bogus and Landen Locklear are entered in the 400.
Junior Antonio Aparicio is seeded eighth in the 800 meters with a school-record time of 1:54.26, which he also set at the Catamount Classic, after finishing eighth at last year's SAC Outdoor championship. He will be joined in the event by senior Carson Walls and freshman Evan Bruce. Senior Kyler Hodges is seeded 18th in the 1500 meters after being clocked at 4:03.91, and is ranked 11th in the steeplechase with a time of 9:57.59. Hodges was eighth in the 1500 meters at last year's Outdoor championship.
Sophomore Ray Richardson will attempt the distance double for the Pioneers, running in both the 5,000 meters and 10,000 meters. Richardson ran 16:04.35 in the 5K and was timed in 32:28.97 in the 10K, where he is seeded 15th.
Senior David Saruni is seeded third in the 400 hurdles with a time of 54.71 seconds, and is third in the javelin with a school-record throw of 52.98 meters (173 feet, 10 inches) in his first collegiate competition at the LR Outdoor Open on April 23.
Tusculum is seeded second in both the 4x100 and 4x400-meter relays, having set school records in both events during the season. The Pioneer 4x100 quartet of Hart, Barber, Pittman and Nelson ran 40.55 at the Catamount Classic on April 16, and is ranked 13th in Division II, while the 4x400 group of Barber, Nelson, Brewer and Pittman was clocked at 3:14.36 at the same meet.
WOMEN'S PREVIEW
Graduate Kenisha Stubbs is the defending SAC Outdoor champion in the 400 hurdles, winning last year with a school-record time of 1:03.37. This year, Stubbs is the top seed in the event with a time of 1:04.59, and is also seeded fourth in the 100 hurdles at 14.69 seconds. Stubbs finished fifth in the 100 hurdles at last year's SAC Outdoor championship and was fourth in the 60 hurdles at this year's SAC Indoor meet.
Freshman Silvia Bah and sophomore Emerald Jones will run in both the 100 and 200 meters for the Pioneers, and are joined in the 200 by junior Destiny Lottie, who is the Pioneers' top seed with a time of 26.06 seconds. Junior Aliyah Adderley and seniors Earthaiza Watkins and Destini Wilson are also entered the compete in the 200.
Lottie and Watkins are slated to compete in the 400 meters for the Pioneers, while sophomore Judy Chellah will run in the 800 with a seed time of 2:24.10. Sophomore Emily Coddington is scheduled to run in the 1500 meters and the steeplechase, where she will be joined by freshman Nicole Griffith who is seeded ninth with a time of 12:19.57. Coddington finished sixth in the steeplechase in last year's SAC Championship with a time of 11:38.56 and took ninth in the 1500 at 4:50.69.
In distance events, sophomore Erin Bruce and graduate Javiera Ortiz will each run in the 5000 meters, with Ortiz also competing in the 10,000 meters. Ortiz is seeded 12th in the 10K after setting the school record of 38:51.14 at the Flames Invitational on April 9.
The Pioneers will enter a 4x400 relay into the championship meet. Tusculum's best time of the season was 4:04.88 at the Catamount Classic on April 16 by the quartet of Watkins, Stubbs, Chellah and Lottie.
Senior Shanee Angol is seeded first in the javelin with a top mark of 43.00 meters (141 feet, 1 inch) at the Catamount Classic. Angol, who was runner-up in the javelin at last year's SAC Outdoor championship, is ranked 27th in Division II this season.
Angol is one of three Pioneers who will compete in the shot put. Angol is seeded 12th at 11.02 meters (36 feet, 2 inches), and will be joined by freshman Amber Hogan and junior Faith Robinette in the event. Hogan will also be competing in the hammer throw, and is seeded sixth after setting a school record at 40.94 meters (134 feet, 4 inches) at the Montreat Invitational on March 25.
