LOUISVILLE, Ky. --- The Tusculum University men's and women's indoor track and field teams opened their 2023-24 season by competing at the Commonwealth College Opener on Saturday at the Norton Sports & Learning Center.
The Pioneers set four school records on the opening day of competition, with senior Dorian Craven breaking his own school record in the men's 500 meters, freshman A'jaylah Yates setting the record in the women's 60 meters, junior Silvia Bah establishing a new mark in the women's 300 meters and senior Judy Chellah in the women's 600 meters.
Tusculum will return to competition on Saturday, Jan. 13 at the Mondo College Invite in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
MEN'S RECAP
Craven broke his own school record and finished third overall in the 500 meters with a time of 1:04.23, finishing only behind two runners from the University of Texas. Craven set the record of 1:05.37 at last year's Commonwealth College Opener. Junior Xay Bogus was sixth in 1:09.35, the seventh-fastest time in program history in the event.
In the 600 meters, sophomore DeWayne Morris took fourth overall in 1:24.57, the second-fastest time in program history and second-fastest in the race among Division II runners. Junior Stephen Brewer had the third-best time in school history in the 300 meters at 34.94 seconds, while grad student Zack Nelson turned in the fifth-best time at 35.17 seconds in a field dominated by Division I runners. Senior Jamal Cash posted a career best in the prelims of the 60-meter hurdles, running at 8.50 seconds for the third-fastest time in program history.
Freshman Sam Shipp took sixth in the 3000 meters with a time of 8:41.79, the third-best time in school history, while freshman Pau Valdepenas finished seventh overall in 8:45.00 for the fifth-fastest mark all-time at Tusculum.
Tusculum's 4x400 relay of Craven, Nelson, Brewer and grad student Luis Aparicio finished second overall in 3:18.41, the fourth-best time in program history and two seconds behind race winner Louisville.
In field events, freshman Lansford Cunningham finished seventh overall and second among non-Division I competitors in the long jump with a mark of 6.86 meters (22 feet, 6 1/4 inches), the second-best mark in program history. Junior Joshua Stephens took seventh in the triple jump at 14.31 meters (46 feet, 11 1/2 inches), third-best in school history. In the shot put, sophomore Adrian Gumm placed fourth at 13.84 meters (45 feet, 5 inches) and sophomore Gavin Rowell took eighth at 12.86 meters (42 feet, 2 1/4 inches).
WOMEN'S RECAP
In her collegiate debut, Yates ran 7.71 in the preliminaries of the 60 meters to break the program record of 7.73 seconds set by Theresa Green-White at the VMI Winter Relays on Feb. 4 of last season. Yates' record would stand for exactly one race, as she ran 7.68 in the next round while sophomore Kiera Taylor ran 7.70 seconds to also break the previous mark.
Bah ran 43.56 seconds in the 300 meters to break the record of 43.70 seconds set by Aliyah Adderley at the Appalachian Open on Dec. 4, 2021. Chellah's time of 1:45.31 in the 600 meters broke the record of 1:47.08 set by Emily Coddington last season. In the 400 meters, freshman McKenzie Morton finished in 59.39 seconds to take fifth place.
The Pioneers' 4x400 relay of Taylor, Morton, Yates and freshman Kieley Smith finished seventh with a time of 4:09.11.
Smith competed in the triple jump and recorded the second-best mark in program history at 9.87 meters (32 feet, 4 3/4 inches), good for ninth place in the event.
Commonwealth College Opener
Tusculum results
MEN
60 hurdles prelims: 9. Jamal Cash, 8.50; 23. Hunter Burkey, 9.27.
300: 18. Stephen Brewer, 34.94; 21. Zack Nelson, 35.17.
500: 3. Dorian Craven, 1:04.23 (school record); 6. Xay Bogus, 1:09.35.
600: 4. DeWayne Morris, 1:24.57.
3000: 6. Sam Shipp, 8:41.79; 7. Pau Valdepenas, 8:45.00.
4x400: 2. Tusculum A (Craven, Nelson, Brewer, Aparicio), 3:18.41; 9. Tusculum B (Bogus, Morris, Stephens, Cash), 3:28.89.
High jump: 7. Hunter Burkey, 1.79m (5-10 1/2).
Long jump: 7. Lansford Cunningham, 6.86m (22-6 1/4); 24. Joshua Stephens, 6.24m (20-5 3/4); 34. Keelen Lester, 5.65m (18-6 1/2).
Triple jump: 7. Joshua Stephens, 14.31m (46-11 1/2); 16. Keelen Lester, 12.22m (40-1 1/4).
Shot put: 4. Adrian Gumm, 13.84m (45-5); 8. Gavin Rowell, 12.86m (42-2 1/4).
WOMEN
60 quarterfinals: 1. A'jaylah Yates, 7.71; 17. Alonda Shelton, 8.02.
60 prelims: 10. A'jaylah Yates, 7.68 (school record); 13. Kiera Taylor, 7.70.
60 hurdles prelims: 26. Kieley Smith, 10.82.
200: 27. Alonda Shelton, 26.76.
300: 31. Silvia Bah, 43.56 (school record).
400: 5. McKenzie Morton, 59.39.
600: 16. Judy Chellah, 1:45.31 (school record).
3000: 10. Inmaculada Delgado, 11:17.72.
4x400: 7. Tusculum (Taylor, Morton, Yates, Smith), 4:09.11.
Triple jump: 9. Kieley Smith, 9.87m (32-4 3/4).
