WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. --- Tusculum University posted five school records and advanced a total of 15 runners into Sunday's finals on the opening day of the South Atlantic Conference Indoor Track and Field Championship Saturday at the JDL Fast Track.
The Tusculum men are currently tied for sixth with 12 points on the first day, while the Pioneer women are ninth with eight points after six of 17 events.
Action resumes Sunday at 9 a.m. with the men's shot put and continues until the 4x400-meter relays starting at 2:15 p.m.
MEN'S RECAP
Junior Lansford Cunningham became Tusculum's first-ever medalist in the long jump as he took second place with a mark of 7.32 meters (24 feet, 1/4 inch. Cunningham was third after the first round and moved into second place behind eventual winner Tobechukwu Nwokocha of Lenoir-Rhyne on his second attempt, where he remained through the finals.
The distance medley relay of freshman Tomas Ribeiro, sophomore John Ross, sophomore Levi Carson and freshman Albert Ziegler took fifth place with a time of 10:34.76.
Ribeiro advanced to the finals of 800 meters after breaking his own school record and qualifying sixth with a time of 1:54.03. In the 400 meters, junior Chazz Alexander advanced with a seventh-place run of 49.10 seconds, while freshman Lamarkus Dunn was 11th in 49.71 seconds.
Grad student Jamal Cash also qualified for finals in the 60 hurdles, taking the eighth and final spot with a time of 8.57 seconds. Sophomore Justin Williams was 10th in 8.64 seconds, and junior Nour Nabi finished 13th in 8.94 seconds.
Nabi is also competing in the heptathlon, and is currently fifth through four of seven events with 2,393 points. His top score came in the 60 meters, where he was fourth overall at 7.36 seconds for 759 points.
WOMEN'S RECAP
The Pioneers dominated the preliminaries in the 60 meters and 200 meters, advancing the top four runners in each event and placing five in the finals of both dashes.
Senior Jahzara Hart is the top qualifier in both events, running 7.36 seconds in the 60 and breaking her own school record in the 200 with a time of 23.77 seconds. Sophomore Qitarah Castlin was second in the 60 meters at 7.48 seconds and was third in the 200 with a career-best time of 24.32 seconds. Senior Shanice Cox was also in the top three in both the 60 and 200, running third at 7.55 seconds in the 60 and second in the 200 with a career-best time of 24.16 seconds.
Sophomore Kori Moore qualified for three finals on Sunday, placing first in the 60 hurdles prelims at 8.47 seconds while running fourth in both the 60 meters (career-best 7.55 seconds) and 200 meters (24.54 seconds). Junior Alonda Shelton will run in the 60 finals after placing sixth in 7.67 seconds and in the 200 with a time of 25.03 seconds, both career bests.
Junior Kialia Claiborne took almost a full second off her season best time and qualified for the finals of the 400 meters with a time of 56.53 seconds, breaking the program record of 56.65 seconds set by Hachlaine Petit at the South Carolina Indoor Open on Feb. 22, 2020. Claiborne was 11th in the 60 hurdles at 9.17 seconds.
Junior Kieley Smith was fourth in the indoor pentathlon and broke her own school record by accumulating 3,110 points, easily surpassing her old record of 2,780 points set at the Vanderbilt Invitational on Jan. 16. Smith, whose top scoring event was the 60 hurdles with 844 points, also tied the program record of 1.57 meters (5 feet, 1 3/4 inches) in the high jump that was set three times by Destini Wilson during the 2019 and 2020 indoor seasons.
Tusculum's distance medley relay of senior Jesica Mbhamali, Shelton, freshman Abby Counter and freshman Hannah McLain was sixth place in a time of 12:58.19, the second-best time in program history.
South Atlantic Conference Indoor Track & Field Championship
at Winston-Salem, N.C. (Day 1 of 2)
Tusculum results
MEN
60 prelims: 24. Cedric Stewart II, 7.11.
60 hurdles prelims: 8. Jamal Cash, 8.57 (advances); 10. Justin Williams, 8.64; 13. Nour Nabi, 8.94.
400 prelims: 7. Chazz Alexander, 49.10 (advances); 11. Lamarkus Dunn, 49.71.
800 prelims: 6. Tomas Ribeiro, 1:54.03 (advances/school record)
Distance medley relay: 5. Tusculum, 10:34.76 (Ribeiro, Ross, Carson, Ziegler).
Long jump: 2. Lansford Cunningham, 7.32m (24-0 1/4); 22. Cedric Stewart II, 6.30m (20-8).
Heptathlon (4 of 7 events): 5. Nour Nabi, 2,393 points.
Team scores (5 of 17 events): 1. Wingate 64; 2. Anderson 29; 3. Newberry 19; 4. Lenoir-Rhyne 16; 5. Mars Hill 15; 6. Tusculum 12; 6. UVA Wise 12; 8. Catawba 10; 9. Emory & Henry 9; 10. Carson-Newman 8; 11. Lincoln Memorial 1; 12. Coker 0.
WOMEN
60 prelims: 1. Jahzara Hart, 7.36 (advances); 2. Qitarah Castlin, 7.48 (advances); 3. Shanice Cox, 7.55 (advances); 4. Kori Moore, 7.55 (advances); 6. Alonda Shelton, 7.67 (advances).
60 hurdles prelims: 1. Kori Moore, 8.47 (advances); 11. Kialia Claiborne, 9.17; 15. Kieley Smith, 9.55.
200 prelims: 1. Jahzara Hart, 23.77 (advances/school record); 2. Shanice Cox, 24.16 (advances); 3. Qitarah Castlin, 24.32 (advances); 4. Kori Moore, 24.54 (advances); 8. Alonda Shelton, 25.03 (advances).
400 prelims: 4. Kialia Claiborne, 56.53 (advances/school record).
Distance medley relay: 6. Tusculum (Mbhamali, Shelton, Counter, McLain), 12:58.19.
Weight throw: 16. Shamyra Reid, 11.61m (38-1 1/4).
Pentathlon: 4. Kieley Smith, 3,110 points (school record).
Team scores (6 of 17 events): 1. Wingate 47; 2. Catawba 45; 3. Lincoln Memorial 31; 4. UVA Wise 28.5; 5. Anderson 28; 6. Carson-Newman 19; 7. Lenoir-Rhyne 9.5; 8. Mars Hill 9; 9. Tusculum 8; 10. Newberry 5; 11. Emory & Henry 2; 12. Coker 1.
