HICKORY, N.C. --- The Tusculum University men's and women's track & field teams opened competition at the South Atlantic Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championships Saturday at Irwin Belk Track on the campus of Lenoir-Rhyne University.

Competing in steady rain, the Pioneer women finished the opening day in fifth place while the Tusculum men are tied for sixth in the men's standings. Due to the rain, the only field competition on Saturday was in the javelin and the hammer throw, with the long jump and pole vault moving to Sunday to be held along with the discus, shot put, high jump and triple jump. The steeplechase and 10,000 meters were the only two track events run as finals on Saturday.

Sunday's schedule will begin in field events at 10:30 a.m., with the first of 10 finals in track events starting at 2 p.m.

WOMEN'S RECAP
Junior Shanee Angol took second place in the javelin and freshman Emily Coddington placed sixth in the steeplechase to account for the Pioneers' 11 points on the first day of competition. Tusculum also had runners advance to finals in six of seven preliminary races heading into finals on Sunday.

Angol took silver in the javelin with a mark of 41.10 meters (134 feet, 10 inches) while Coddington ran 11:38.56 in the steeplechase to set a season-best time by one second. Coddington also advanced to the finals in the 1500 meters, placing 11th overall in 4:58.00.

Sophomore Faith Bostick and senior Kenisha Stubbs each advanced to finals in a pair of events. Bostick was third in the 100 meters at 12.28 seconds and second in the 200 meters at 25.19 seconds, while Stubbs was eighth in prelims in both the 100 and 400 hurdles, running 15.96 seconds in the high hurdles and 1:10.30 in intermediate hurdles. Senior Kesia Griffith also moved into finals as she placed eighth in the 400 meters with a time of 1:00.95.

In the 800 meters, freshman Judy Chellah was Tusculum's top finisher as she placed 12th overall in 2:30.17.

Queens is in first place through four events with 52 points, with Wingate (33 points) in second and Lenoir-Rhyne (27) in third. Limestone (15 points) ranks fifth ahead of the Pioneers, who are followed by Catawba with eight points, Anderson with seven and Carson-Newman with three.

MEN'S RECAP
Tusculum advanced runners to finals in five of the six events that held preliminaries on Saturday. Sophomore Jontavus Walker and sophomore Antonio Aparicio each advanced to finals in a pair of events, while Walker and Althiery Leontes set school records in their respective prelims.

Of the four events that held finals on Saturday, the Pioneers scored a total of five points as junior Alex Perez took sixth in the steeplechase and junior Kyler Hodges was seventh. Perez improved his career-best time by 14 seconds as he crossed the line in 9:50.15, while Hodges was the next finisher with a time of 9:56.17. Junior Carson Walls took 11th place and posted a personal record by eight seconds with a time of 10:20.65.

Walker advanced to the finals of the 200 meters and the 400 meters, placing fourth in the 400 meters with a time of 49.27 seconds which broke his own school record of 49.51 seconds set at the Catamount Classic last Saturday. Walker also qualified fifth in the 200 meters at 22.22 seconds.

Aparicio was the top qualifier in the 1500 meters, running 4:02.30 while Hodges qualified with a time of 4:04.88 which placed him 11th overall. Aparicio also qualified for the finals in the 800 meters, taking ninth in prelims at 1:58.08.

Leontes moved on to the finals of the 400 hurdles by placing third in preliminaries with a time of 55.95 seconds, just over a second faster than his previous best time of the season of 57.18 seconds and breaking the school record of 56.06 seconds set at the 2019 SAC Championship by Malek Folston. Leontes was scheduled to compete in the 110 hurdles preliminaries, but a timing malfunction resulted in the event being moved to Sunday.

In the 100 meters, sophomore Devan Hart was the top finisher for the Pioneers as he took 11th in prelims at 11.11 seconds, while Alex Higgins finished 20th in the hammer throw with a top mark of 32.64 meters (107 feet, 1 inch), the seventh-best throw in program history.

Tusculum's five points through four events are tied for sixth place with Newberry. Wingate leads all men's teams with 63 points, followed by Queens at 58. The remaining seven teams to earn points on Saturday are separated by a total of eight points, as Anderson is in third place with nine points, followed by Catawba (7), Carson-Newman (6), Newberry and Tusculum with five, Limestone in eighth place with two points and Mars Hill with one.

South Atlantic Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championships
at Hickory, N.C. - Day 1 of 2
Tusculum results
WOMEN
Preliminaries
100: 3. Faith Bostick, 12.28 (advances); 16. Kayneshia Carter, 13.26.
200: 2. Faith Bostick, 25.19 (advances); 20. Kayneshia Carter, 28.45.
400: 8. Kesia Griffith, 1:00.95 (advances).
800: 12. Judy Chellah, 2:30.17; 16. Yoland Boyce, 2:36.34.
1500: 11. Emily Coddington, 4:58.00 (advances).
100 hurdles: 8. Kenisha Stubbs, 15.96 (advances).
400 hurdles: 8. Kenisha Stubbs, 1:10.30 (advances).

Finals
Steeplechase: 6. Emily Coddington, 11:38.56.
Javelin: 2. Shanee Angol, 41.10m (134-10).

Team scores (4 events): 1. Queens, 52; 2. Wingate, 33; 3. Lenoir-Rhyne, 27; 4. Limestone, 15; 5. Tusculum, 11; 6. Catawba, 8; 7. Anderson, 7; 8. Carson-Newman, 3.

MEN
Preliminaries
100: 11. Devan Hart, 11.11; 18. Pierre Dupuy, 11.32; Giovanni Purser, FS; Gerard Hearst, FS.
200: 5. Jontavus Walker, 22.22 (advances); 10. Devan Hart, 22.65; 19. Giovanni Purser, 22.94; 24. Gerard Hearst, 23.82.
400: 4. Jontavus Walker, 49.27 (advances/school record).
800: 9. Antonio Aparicio, 1:58.08 (advances).
1500: 1. Antonio Aparicio, 4:02.30 (advances); 11. Kyler Hodges, 4:04.88 (advances).
400 hurdles: 3. Althiery Leontes, 55.95 (advances/school record); 12. Kyle Stanley, 59.98.

Finals
Steeplechase: 6. Alex Perez, 9:50.15; 7. Kyler Hodges, 9:56.17; 11. Carson Walls, 10:20.65.
Hammer: 20. Alex Higgins, 32.64m (107-1).

Team scores (4 events): 1. Wingate, 63; 2. Queens, 58; 3. Anderson, 9; 4. Catawba, 7; 5. Carson-Newman, 6; 6. Tusculum, 5; 6. Newberry, 5; 8. Limestone, 2; 9. Mars Hill, 1.