GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- Tusculum University will compete at the South Atlantic Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championship, which is being held Wednesday, April 30 and Thursday, May 1 at Lenoir-Rhyne University.
The Pioneers will have 18 men and 17 women participate in the two-day meet, with Tusculum entered in 13 men's and 14 women's events among the 21 events per gender at the championship.
Competition begins Wednesday morning with the men's hammer throw, one of six events that will be completed on the opening day of the meet. Action will resume Thursday with the second day of the heptathlon and decathlon, and ending with the men's and women's 4x400 relays late Thursday afternoon.
MEN'S PREVIEW
Tusculum finished third at last year's SAC Championship meet, the best-ever finish at the outdoor championship for the Pioneers. Tusculum will look to improve on its ninth-place result at the SAC Indoor Championship on March 1-2 at Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
Junior Isaiah Olson (Greeneville, Tenn.) was the SAC Men's Track Athlete of the Meet last year after winning three medals, including gold in the 100 meters and as part of the 4x100 relay. Olson is seeded second in the 100 meters with a school-record time of 10.27 seconds set at the Electric City Invitational on April 5, and is seeded third in the 200 meters at 20.93 seconds. Olson, who is ranked 15th in Division II in the 100 and 33rd in the 200, was third in the 200 and fourth in the 60 at the SAC Indoor Championship.
Freshman Mica Ruffin (Conyers, Ga.) is seeded fifth in the 100 (10.38 seconds) and seventh in the 200 (10.38 seconds), ranking him inside the top 70 in Division II in both events. Senior Joshua Stephens (Sanford, Fla.) is seeded ninth in the 100 meters at 10.61 seconds, and in the 400 hurdles freshman John Ross (Mount Carmel, Tenn.) is seeded 10th with a time of 56.06 seconds.
Sophomore Kayvon Pickett (High Point, N.C.) will also compete in the 100 meters for the Pioneers, with freshman Jonathan Harris (Nassau, Bahamas) and senior Xay Bogus (Knoxville, Tenn.) entered in the 400 meters. Freshman Levi Carson (Hammond, La.) and senior Landen Locklear (Kingsport, Tenn.) will run in the 800 meters, with senior Ryan Drysch (Shorewood, Ill.) and junior Jerry Ricker (Kingsport, Tenn.) in the 5000 meters.
Stephens is the top seed in the triple jump and is ranked 20th in Division II with a mark of 15.20 meters (49 feet, 10 1/2 inches) set at the Aggie Invitational on April 19. Stephens won the triple jump at the SAC Indoor Championship with a mark of 14.78 meters (48 feet, 6 inches). Stephens is also seeded second in the long jump at 7.06 meters.
In throws, junior Adrian Gumm (Maryville, Tenn.) is seeded fourth in the shot put at 15.38 meters and 10th in the discus at 43.20 meters. Gumm was fourth in the shot put at the SAC Indoor Championship in March, after placing third in the event at last year's SAC Outdoor Championship.
Sophomore Dylan Horne (Ocoee, Fla.) is ranked third in the discus with a program-record mark of 50.08 meters, and is eighth in the javelin at 48.79 meters. Horne took seventh in the javelin at last year's SAC Outdoor Championship.
Sophomore Noah Girard (Enfield, Conn.) is seeded third in the javelin at 54.37 meters, followed by sophomore Michael McGrath in sixth at 52.04 meters. In the shot put, junior Gavin Rowell (Melbourne, Fla.) is seeded fifth at 15.11 meters and senior Jaden Gary (Miramar, Fla.) is eighth at 14.89 meters.
Rowell, McGrath and Gary will also compete in the discus for the Pioneers, with Horne competing in the shot put along with freshman Richard Burney (Chattanooga, Tenn.).
The 4x100 relay of Ruffin, Olson, Pickett and Stephens is seeded fourth with a time of 40.60 seconds, and the Pioneers have also entered a 4x400 relay of Bogus, Ross, Stephens and Pickett.
WOMEN'S PREVIEW
The Pioneers took fifth place at the SAC Indoor Championship in March after earning a sixth-place result at last year's outdoor meet. Tusculum has seven entries in both the 100 and 200 meters, including six in the top 10 in the 100 and four in the top 10 in the 200.
Junior Jahzara Hart (Raleigh, N.C.) is seeded second in both the 100 meters (11.33 seconds) and 200 meters (23.43 seconds), setting the program record several times in the events during the season. Hart is currently ranked seventh in Division II in the 100 and 12th in the 200. Hart placed second in the 60 meters and third in the 200 at the SAC Indoor Championship.
Junior Shanice Cox (Minneapolis, Minn.) is seeded third in the 100 (11.60 seconds) and in the 200 (23.89 seconds), while freshman Kori Moore (Jonesboro, Ga.) is fourth in the 200 (24.17) and sixth in the 100 (11.74). Junior Kiera Taylor (Kissimmee, Fla.) is seeded seventh in the 100 meters at 11.78 seconds after taking fifth in the 100 and fourth in the 200 at last year's SAC Championship meet.
Freshman Qitarah Castlin (Griffin, Ga.), sophomore Alonda Shelton (Greensboro, N.C.) and junior Theresa Green-White (Stafford, Texas) are also entered in both the 100 and 200 for the Pioneers.
Green-White is the top seed in the 100 hurdles after earning All-America honors in the event last season, with a time of 13.61 seconds. Moore is seeded second at 13.78 seconds, and is ranked 19th nationally in the event with Green-White ranked tenth in Division II. Moore place second in the 60 hurdles and Green-White took fourth at the SAC Indoor Championship.
Grad student Tashianna Gray (Longview, Texas) is seeded fourth in the 400 meters with a school-record time of 55.90 seconds, with sophomore McKenzie Morton (Knoxville, Tenn.) seeded seventh at 57.02 seconds. Also competing in track events are grad student Eva Tolliver (Mascot, Tenn.) in the 400 hurdles along with grad students Alayna Suitte (Knightdale, N.C.) and Megan Humiston (Jacksonville, N.C.) along with junior Jesica Mbhamali (Johannesburg, South Africa) in the 800 meters.
Tusculum is the top seed in the 4x100 relay, with the group of Taylor, Cox, Green-White and Hart currently ranked seventh in Division II after running a program-record time of 44.89 seconds at the Aggie Invitational. The 4x400 relay of Moore, Shelton, Gray and Castlin is ranked third at 3:52.59.
In field events, junior Danyell Booker (Fresno, Calif.) is seeded second in the shot put after setting the program record four times this season, including a throw of 13.18 meters at the Aggie Invitational on April 19. Senior Amber Hogan (Piedmont, S.C.), who was sixth in the hammer throw at last year's SAC Championship, is seeded fourth in the event at 44.27 meters and also entered in the shot put and discus.
Freshman Agustina Dittrich (Cordoba, Argentina) is entered in both the javelin throw and the long jump, and sophomore Kieley Smith (Greeneville, Tenn.) is also entered in the javelin. Smith will compete in the heptathlon for the second straight year, looking to improve on her eighth-place finish from last year when she set the program record with 3,799 points.
