GREENEVILLE, Tenn. — Tusculum University has qualified three student-athletes to compete at the NCAA Division II Indoor Track & Field Championship, which will be held March 13-15 at Fall Creek Pavilion in Indianapolis, Indiana.
Senior Joshua Stephens will compete in the men’s triple jump, junior Jahzara Hart will run in the women’s 60 meters and junior Theresa Green-White is entered in the women’s 60-meter hurdles for the Pioneers.
Hart and Green-White will become the first Pioneer women to compete at indoor nationals, and the three Tusculum indoor entrants are the most in program history. Nicole McMillen was scheduled to run at the 2020 Indoor Championship in the women’s 3000 and 5000 meters, but the meet was canceled due to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Stephens, who won the South Atlantic Conference championship in the triple jump, posted his qualifying mark of 15.08 meters (49 feet, 5 3/4 inches) at the VMI Invitational on Jan. 25. The Sanford, Florida native gives Tusculum an entry in the event for the second straight year, following Daryl Smith Jr. who placed 16th at last year’s NCAA Indoor championship.
Hart has been ranked in the top 10 all season in the 60 meters after running 7.37 seconds at the Commonwealth College Opener on Dec. 7. The Raleigh, North Carolina native has posted all of the top 10 times in the women’s 60 in program history this winter, and was an NJCAA national qualifier in the event during the 2023 season. Hart was second in the 60 meters at the SAC Championship with a time of 7.55 seconds.
Green-White was an All-American in the women’s 100-meter hurdles at the 2024 NCAA Division II Outdoor Track & Field Championship, and will be competing for the first time at indoor nationals after running 8.51 seconds at the VMI Winter Relays on Feb. 1. The Stafford, Texas native, who was fourth at the SAC Championship last weekend, was All-Region in the 60 hurdles last year and had the second-best time in the event in the Southeast Region this season.
Hart will be the first to compete at nationals for the Pioneers, running in preliminaries of the 60 meters on Thursday, March 13 at 4:15 p.m. Green-White will compete in the 60 hurdles prelims on Friday, March 14 at 4:15 p.m., and Stephens will participate in the triple jump on Saturday, March 15 at noon. Finals in the 60 hurdles will be at 2:15 p.m. on Saturday, March 15 followed by the 60 meters finals at 2:45 p.m.
