GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- The Tusculum University men's and women's track and field teams will compete at the 2021 South Atlantic Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championships, which will be hosted by Lenoir-Rhyne University at the Irwin Belk Track on Saturday and Sunday in Hickory, North Carolina.
Both the men's and women's teams will be competing in the Outdoor Track & Field Championships for the third time. The Tusculum men finished tenth in their inaugural appearance in 2018 and improved to fifth in 2019, while the Pioneer women went from ninth in 2018 to fifth in 2019. Last year's SAC Championships were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
MEN'S PREVIEW
Tusculum has 17 individuals entered across 14 different events, beginning at 10:30 a.m. Saturday with sophomore Alex Higgins (Cleveland, Tenn.) in the hammer throw. Higgins recorded a best mark of 35.87 meters (117 feet, 8 inches) at the Catamount Classic on April 16, the third-best throw in the event in program history.
Running events commence at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday with trials in the 1500 meters. Junior Kyler Hodges (Casselberry, Fla.) is coming off a school-record time of 3:59.71 at the Catamount Classic last Saturday, while sophomore Antonio Aparicio (Paterna, Spain) is also entered after setting what was the previous Tusculum record of 4:00.29 at the Flames Invitational on April 9.
In the 110 hurdles, senior Althiery Leontes (Fort Myers, Fla.) owns the school record of 15.10 seconds which he set March 27 at the Montreat Invitational. Leontes will also run in the 400 hurdles, with his seed time of 57.18 seconds set at the LR Bears Open on March 21. Grad student Kyle Stanley (Chaguanas, Trinidad) is also entered in the 400 hurdles, with a time of 59.96 seconds from the Catamount Classic.
Tusculum has four entrants in the 100-meter dash, led by junior Gerard Hearst (Alpharetta, Ga.) at 11.01 seconds and followed by sophomore Devan Hart (Bonaire, Ga.) at 11.04 seconds, sophomore Giovanni Purser (Port Maria, Jamaica) with a time of 11.12 seconds and sophomore Pierre Dupuy (Pompano Beach, Fla.) at 11.22 seconds. Hart, Purser and Dupuy each set career bests in the 100 during the 2021 season.
Sophomore Jontavus Walker (Columbus, Ga.) will run in the 400 meters with a school-record qualifying time of 49.51 seconds which he established at last week's Catamount Classic. Aparicio is the Pioneers' entry in the 800 meters, having set the school record three times this season including a 1:55.27 at the Catamount Classic.
Walker also leads a group of five Pioneers entered in the 200 meters, with his best time of 21.64 seconds from the Catamount Classic. Also competing will be Hart (22.42 seconds), Hearst (22.50), Dupuy (22.54) and Purser (22.69).
Hodges is the Pioneers' top entry in the steeplechase, also owning the school record in that event of 9:46.60 which he set April 10 at the Flames Invitational. Junior Alex Perez (Aviles, Spain) is entered at 10:04.05 also set at the Flames Invitational, which is the fourth-best time in program history, and junior Carson Walls (Gray, Tenn.) is entered with a time of 10:37.71. Hodges finished third in the steeplechase and Perez seventh at the 2019 SAC Championship.
Competing in the long jump will be the freshman duo of Javon Brown and Javell Brown (Auburndale, Fla.), with identical seed marks of 6.51 meters (21 feet, 4 1/4 inches) which they set at the Catamount Classic last Friday. They are tied for the fifth-best jumps in program history in the event.
Sunday's activity begins at 11 a.m. with the Pioneers' first action coming in the shot put at noon. Higgins is entered with a mark of 13.49 meters (44 feet, 3 1/4 inches) set at the Flames Invitational which is the third-best distance in program history. Senior Zach Lane (Greeneville, Tenn.) will also compete in the shot put, with his best mark of 12.78 meters (41 feet, 11 inches) from the Montreat Invitational which is ninth in program history.
The Brown brothers will be in action in the triple jump on Sunday, with Javon at 14.33 meters (47 feet, 1/4 inch) and Javell at 14.08 meters (46 feet, 2 1/2 inches), both set at the LR Bears Open. Javon's mark is fourth-best in program history while Javell is ranked sixth all-time at Tusculum in the triple jump.
Action in Sunday's discus finals will include three Tusculum competitors, as Higgins and Lane will be joined by senior Mike Peppin (Boiling Springs, S.C.), who has no mark this season but holds the program record at 40.81 meters (133 feet, 11 inches) set at Lenoir-Rhyne in 2019 and was a seventh-place finisher at the 2019 conference championship. Lane is seeded at 37.15 meters (121 feet, 10 inches) and Higgins at 36.41 meters (119 feet, 5 inches), both set at the Catamount Classic.
The final individual event of the championships will be the 5000 meters, which will include sophomore Caleb Archer (Bluff City, Tenn.) who has the fourth-best time in program history at 15:29.52 set at the Flames Invitational, along with Hodges who ran 15:40.14 at the LR Bears Open for the program's sixth-best time.
The Pioneers will also have entries in the 4x100 and 4x400-meter relays. Tusculum's 4x400 team of Hart, Stanley, Walker and Aparicio set a program record of 3:26.44 at the Montreat Invitational.
WOMEN'S PREVIEW
Competition for the women in 12 individual events at the SAC Championship will begin with the long jump on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. Junior Destini Wilson (Boynton Beach, Fla.) set the program record of 5.43 meters (17 feet, 9 3/4 inches) at the Montreat Invitational on March 26.
In the javelin, junior Shanee Angol (Grand Bay, Dominica) is a favorite after earning an NCAA Division II provisional qualifying mark of 44.11 meters (144 feet, 9 inches) at the LR Bears Open on March 21. Angol has surpassed 40 meters in each of the three events she has competed this spring.
On the track, competition begins at 2:45 p.m. Saturday with the 1500 meters. Freshman Emily Coddington (Acosta, Pa.) had the fourth-best time in program history at 4:48.20 at the Catamount Classic on April 16. Coddington is also entered in the steeplechase later on Saturday, with a top time of 11:39.55 set at Montreat.
Senior Kenisha Stubbs (Nassau, Bahamas) owns the program record in the 100 hurdles of 15.29 seconds set at the Flames Invitational on April 10. At the same meet, Stubbs ran her 400 hurdles best time and also set a school record at 1:06.86.
Entered in the 400 meters for the Pioneers are junior Earthaiza Watkins (Stamford, Conn.) and senior Kesia Griffith (Saint Johns, Fla.). Watkins, who was sixth in the 400 at the 2019 SAC Championship, ran 58.54 seconds at the Montreat Invitational and holds the school record in the event of 57.14 seconds. Griffith is seeded at 1:02.37 in the 400 meters.
Sophomore Faith Bostick (Port St. Lucie, Fla.) is the top seed in both the 100 meters and 200 meters, having run 11.92 in the 100 at the Flames Invitational and 24.47 at the Catamount Classic to set school records in each event. Bostick, who has the top four times in program history in the 100 and five of the top six in the 200, is just shy of the NCAA provisional qualifying standard in each event of 11.90 seconds in the 100 and 24.40 seconds in the 200. Junior Kayneshia Carter (Nassau, Bahamas) is also entered in the 100 and 200, after running 13.07 at the LR Bears Open on March 21 and 27.06 in the 200.
Competing in the 800 meters will be freshman Judy Chellah (Gray, Tenn.) and senior Yoland Boyce (Brooklyn, N.Y.). Chellah rank 2:26.32 at the Catamount Classic for the seventh-best time in the 800 in program history, while Boyce is seeded at 2:28.61 which she also posted at the Catamount Classic. Boyce has five of the top 10 individual times in the 800 in program history.
On Sunday, Wilson will compete in the high jump, in which she finished fifth in the SAC in 2019. Wilson tied her school record in the high jump at 1.60 meters (5 feet, 3 inches) in the Catamount Classic.
Sophomore Erin Bruce (Jonesborough, Tenn.) will run in the 5000 meters on Sunday, with her entry time of 20:24.75 from the LR Bears Open the tenth-fastest in program history.
Tusculum will run in both the 4x100 and 4x400 on the final day of the meet, having posted the third-best time in program history in the 4x100 at 48.63 at the LR Bears Open and the fifth-best 4x400 time at 4:02.34 at the Montreat Invitational.
SPECTATOR POLICY
Due to the large number of student-athletes competing in the 2021 SAC Men's and Women's Track & Field Championships and in order to comply with state, local, and institutional guidelines, fans and spectators will not be permitted inside the Moretz Athletic Complex during either day of the championships.
Fans can follow all the action live online with video streaming provided by the Lenoir-Rhyne Bears Sports Network at thesac.com/live or on the South Atlantic Conference app on Roku, Amazon Fire, and Apple TV.
