HICKORY, N.C. — Tusculum University freshman Caley Sosnowski broke the South Atlantic Conference Championship record and improved on her NCAA Division II-leading mark in the javelin as the Pioneers competed on the first day of the SAC Outdoor Track & Field Championship at Lenoir-Rhyne University on Wednesday.
The Pioneers advanced five women and 10 men to finals in running events during Wednesday’s preliminaries, while setting five women’s and one men’s school record. After six events, the Tusculum women are in sixth place out of 13 schools with 13 points and the Pioneer men are in ninth place with three points.
Finals in the 15 remaining events will be held Thursday starting at 10 a.m.
MEN’S RECAP
The Pioneers advanced 10 runners to finals during Wednesday’s preliminaries, including three finalists in both the 100 meters and 200 meters. In the 100, sophomore Isaiah Olson tied for the 10th-fastest time in program history and qualified second with a time of 10.45 seconds. Senior Jordan Taylor was third in preliminaries in 10.50 seconds, with senior Marquel Pittman in fourth at 10.63 seconds.
In the 200 meters, freshman Lansford Cunningham registered the third-fastest time in program history and placed second in trials at 21.02 seconds, followed by Olson who was third in 21.11 seconds. Taylor took eighth place at 21.35 seconds to become the third Pioneer to qualify for finals on Thursday.
Senior Dorian Craven ran a career-best 48.38 seconds and qualified sixth in the 400 meters, with grad student Zack Nelson joining Craven in finals after taking eighth place in 48.81 seconds.
The Pioneers had a finals qualifier in each of the hurdles events, with senior Jamal Cash placing sixth in the 110 hurdles at 15.00 seconds and sophomore Daryl Smith Jr. in third place in the 400 hurdles at 54.06 seconds.
Freshman Pau Valdepenas broke the school record in the steeplechase as he finished ninth in 9:39.77, breaking the mark of 9:46.60 set by Kyler Hodges at the Flames Invitational on April 10, 2021. Valdepenas also posted the second-best time in program history in the 1500 meters as he took 13th place at 3:57.92.
Tusculum picked up points in two field events on Wednesday, as freshman Dylan Horne was seventh in the javelin at 47.95 meters (157 feet, 3 inches) and Cunningham was eighth in the long jump at 7.05 meters (23 feet, 1 3/4 inches), just off his school-record mark of 7.14 meters (23 feet, 5 1/4 inches) set April 19 at the Catamount Classic.
Wingate placed seven of the top eight finishers in the 10,000 meters to hold first place after six events with 91 points, with Lenoir-Rhyne in second with 47 points and Newberry third with 35 points.
WOMEN’S RECAP
Sosnowski broke the SAC Championship record of 45.48 meters set by Danielle Konopelski of Queens in 2017 with her first throw of the competition, and would improve on her Division II-leading mark with her third throw of 49.05 meters (160 feet, 11 inches). The freshman from Oxford, Florida won for the sixth time in as many meets this spring, and for the third time this season all of Sosnowski’s throws surpassed the best of the runner-up. Sosnowski is the second Pioneer in the last three years to win the javelin, following Shanee Angol who took gold in 2022 after winning silver in 2021.
Sophomore Kiera Taylor advanced to the finals of the 100 meters and 200 meters, matching her own program record of 11.81 seconds to take fourth place in the 100 and running 24.40 seconds in the 200 meters for fourth place in prelims. Her mark broke the Tusculum record of 24.47 seconds set by Faith Bostick at the Catamount Classic on April 16, 2021.
Sophomore Theresa Green-White matched her program record of 13.92 seconds in the 100 hurdles, in which she will be the top seed for Thursday’s final. Green-White also qualified seventh for the finals of the 100 meters with a career-best time of 11.97 seconds.
Senior Judy Chellah ran 2:20.50 in the 800 meters for 11th place overall, while breaking the program record of 2:20.97 set by Emily Coddington at the 2021 Catamount Classic.
Freshman Alonda Shelton turned in a season-best time of 12.25 seconds and finished 12th in the 100 meters, and ran 24.97 seconds for 10th place in the 200 meters. Freshman McKenzie Morton also had a season best in the 400 meters, running 59.49 seconds and taking 10th place.
In the hammer throw, junior Amber Hogan finished in sixth place with a throw of 41.70 meters (136 feet, 9 inches), the third-best mark of her career and second-best of the 2024 season.
Wingate leads through six of 21 events with 77 points, followed by Lenoir-Rhyne in second with 38 points and Anderson third with 35 points. Carson-Newman holds fourth place with 30 points, with Catawba fifth (20 points) and Tusculum in sixth (13) out of 13 teams.
South Atlantic Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championship – Day 1 of 2
Tusculum results
MEN
100: 2. Isaiah Olson, 10.45 (advances); 3. Jordan Taylor, 10.50 (advances); 4. Marquel Pittman, 10.63 (advances); 9. Lansford Cunningham, 10.67.
110H: 6. Jamal Cash, 15.00 (advances); 13. Hunter Burkey, 16.27.
200: 2. Lansford Cunningham, 21.02 (advances); 3. Isaiah Olson, 21.11 (advances); 8. Jordan Taylor, 21.35 (advances); 15. Marquel Pittman, 21.83.
400: 6. Dorian Craven, 48.38 (advances); 8. Zack Nelson, 48.81 (advances); 30. Kayvon Pickett, 54.05.
400H: 3. Daryl Smith Jr., 54.06 (advances); 10. Jamal Cash, 55.46; 25. Hunter Burkey, 1:03.41.
800: 10. Antonio Aparicio, 1:54.95.
1500: 13. Pau Valdepenas, 3:57.92.
Steeplechase: 9. Pau Valdepenas, 9:39.77 (school record).
10000: 15. Sam Shipp, 32:25.11.
Javelin: 7. Dylan Horne, 47.95m (157-3); 12. Noah Girard, 42.97m (140-11); 13. Gavin Rowell, 42.26m (138-7); 20. Carlos Turner, 36.09m (118-5); 21. Joshua Stephens, 35.65m (116-11).
Long jump: 8. Lansford Cunningham, 7.05m (23-1 3/4); 10. Daryl Smith Jr., 6.68m (21-11); 19. Joshua Stephens, 6.42m (21-3/4).
Team scores (6 of 21 events): Wingate 91; Lenoir-Rhyne 47; 3. Newberry 35; 4. Anderson 24; 5. Catawba 14; 6. Mars Hill 9; 7. Limestone 5; 7. Lincoln Memorial 5; 9. Tusculum 3.
WOMEN
100: 4. Kiera Taylor, 11.81 (advances/ties school record); 7. Theresa Green-White, 11.97 (advances); 12. Alonda Shelton, 12.25.
100H: 1. Theresa Green-White, 13.92 (advances/ties school record).
200: 4. Kiera Taylor, 24.40 (advances/school record); 10. Alonda Shelton, 24.97; 18. Jada Martin, 25.77.
400: 10. McKenzie Morton, 59.49; 14. Jada Martin, 1:01.19.
400H: 9. Theresa Green-White, 1:07.65; 17. Macey Snapp, 1:11.27.
800: 11. Judy Chellah, 2:20.50 (school record); 22. Inmaculada Delgado, 2:32.28.
1500: 17. Inmaculada Delgado, 5:03.07.
Hammer: 6. Amber Hogan, 41.70m (136-9).
Javelin: 1. Caley Sosnowski, 49.05m (160-11) (school record/SAC record); 14. McKenzie Morton, 25.41 (83-4); 19. Kieley Smith, 23.61m (77-5).
Team scores (6 of 21 events): 1. Wingate 77; 2. Lenoir-Rhyne 38; 3. Anderson 35; 4. Carson-Newman 30; 5. Catawba 20; 6. Tusculum 13; 7. Newberry 12; 8. Limestone 4; 9. UVA Wise 3; 10. Emory & Henry 1; 10. Lincoln Memorial 1.
