HICKORY, N.C. --- Tusculum University earned three gold medals on the final day of the South Atlantic Conference Men's and Women's Outdoor Track & Field Championships Sunday at Irwin Belk Track on the campus of Lenoir-Rhyne University.
The Tusculum men finished sixth overall with 51 points as senior Althiery Leontes won the 400 hurdles and freshman Javell Brown took gold in the triple jump. The Pioneer women were in eighth place with 53 points behind a gold medal performance from senior Kenisha Stubbs in the 400 hurdles. Tusculum set six school records and tied another during Sunday's competition.
MEN'S RECAP
Leontes qualified third in the 400 hurdles with a school-record time of 55.95 seconds, then took more than two seconds off that by blazing to gold in 53.64 seconds. Leontes also broke his own school record in the 110 hurdles with a fourth-place finish in 14.78 seconds.
In the triple jump, Javell Brown was the top seed heading into finals after posting a mark of 14.54 meters in preliminaries, but saw his brother Javon Brown grab the lead with a mark of 14.61 meters (47 feet, 11 1/4 inches) on his final attempt. Javell then leaped 14.78 meters (48 feet, 6 inches) to snag the gold, earn an NCAA Division II provisional qualifying mark and secure a 1-2 finish for the Pioneers. Javell Brown finished ninth in the long jump (6.68 meters) and Javon took 16th place at 6.38 meters.
Sophomore Jontavus Walker finished fifth in the 400 meters and broke his own school record with a time of 48.50 seconds, and took sixth in the 200 meters at 212.55 seconds. Sophomore Antonio Aparicio was eighth in the 800 meters at 2:00.25, and junior Kyler Hodges placed eighth in the 1500 meters at 3:59.98.
In relays, the 4x100 of junior Gerard Hearst, sophomore Giovanni Purser, sophomore Devan Hart and sophomore Pierre Dupuy was fifth overall at 42.11 seconds. Tusculum's 4x400 relay of grad student Kyle Stanley, Walker, Hart and Aparicio took ninth place at 3:28.03.
In field events, sophomore Alex Higgins placed 11th in the shot put at 13.39 meters (43 feet, 11 1/4 inches) and was 16th in the discus with a throw of 36.86 meters (120 feet, 11 inches). Senior Zach Lane finished 22nd in both the shot put (12.07 meters/39 feet, 7 1/4 inches) and the discus (34.25 meters/112 feet, 4 inches), while senior Mike Peppin was 20th in the discus with a throw of 35.20 meters (115 feet, 6 inches).
Queens won the men's team championship with 182 points, finishing ahead of runner-up Wingate (150 points) and third-place Carson-Newman (130.5). Limestone was fourth with 97 points, trailed by Catawba (88) and Tusculum with 51 in sixth.
WOMEN'S RECAP
Stubbs was the eighth and final qualifier in the 400 hurdles after running 1:10.30 in prelims on Saturday, but she turned it around Sunday and took 3 1/2 seconds off her school record of 1:06.86 by posting a time of 1:03.37 in finals, winning the race by 3/4 of a second. Stubbs added a fifth-place finish in the 100 hurdles at 15.00 seconds, also breaking her school record.
Sophomore Faith Bostick earned a pair of medals on Sunday, finishing second in the 100 meters and breaking her own school record with an NCAA provisional-qualifying time of 11.90 seconds and taking third in the 200 meters at 24.89 seconds. Senior Kesia Griffith was eighth in the 400 meters at 1:00.79, and freshman Emily Coddington took ninth place in the 1500 meters with a time of 4:50.69.
In relays, the 4x100 quartet of junior Kayneshia Carter, junior Destini Wilson, Griffith and sophomore Aliyah Adderley finished in sixth place with a time of 49.30 seconds, and the 4x400 relay of Bostick, Griffith, Stubbs and Coddington took fifth in 4:04.31.
In jumps, Wilson tied her own school record in the high jump at 1.60 meters (5 feet, 3 inches) and placed fifth overall, while taking seventh in the long jump with a mark of 5.34 meters (17 feet, 6 1/4 inches).
Queens nearly doubled runner-up Wingate in the team standings, scoring 228 points to 117 for the Bulldogs. Host Lenoir-Rhyne finished third with 71 points, followed by Anderson (70), Limestone in fifth (68), Coker (64), Catawba (58) and the Pioneers (53) in eighth.
South Atlantic Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championships
at Hickory, N.C. - Day 2 of 2
Tusculum results
MEN
200: 6. Jontavus Walker, 21.55.
400: 5. Jontavus Walker, 48.50 (school record).
800: 8. Antonio Aparicio, 2:00.25.
1500: 8. Kyler Hodges, 3:59.98; 11. Antonio Aparicio, 4:09.30.
5000: 21. Caleb Archer, 15:53.53.
110 hurdles: 4. Althiery Leontes, 14.78 (school record).
400 hurdles: 1. Althiery Leontes, 53.64 (school record).
4x100: 5. Tusculum (Hearst, Purser, Hart, Dupuy), 42.11.
4x400: 9. Tusculum (Stanley, Walker, Hart, Aparicio), 3:28.03.
Triple jump: 1. Javell Brown, 14.78m (48-6); 2. Javon Brown, 14.61m (47-11 1/4).
Long jump: 9. Javell Brown, 6.68m (21-11); 16. Javon Brown, 6.38m (20-11 1/4).
Discus: 16. Alex Higgins, 36.86m (120-11); 20. Mike Peppin, 35.20m (115-6); 22. Zach Lane, 34.25m (112-4).
Shot put: 11. Alex Higgins, 13.39m (43-11 1/4); 22. Zach Lane, 12.07m (39-7 1/4).
Team scores: 1. Queens, 182; 2. Wingate, 150; 3. Carson-Newman, 130.5; 4. Limestone, 97; 5. Catawba, 88; 6. Tusculum, 51; 7. Lenoir-Rhyne, 33; 8. Coker, 29; 9. Anderson, 17; 10. Newberry, 15; 11. Mars Hill, 13.5; 12. Lincoln Memorial, 10. 13. UVA Wise, 0.
WOMEN
100: 2. Faith Bostick, 11.90 (school record).
200: 3. Faith Bostick, 24.89.
400: 8. Kesia Griffith, 1:00.79.
1500: 9. Emily Coddington, 4:50.69.
5000: 37. Erin Bruce, 20:39.48.
100 hurdles: 5. Kenisha Stubbs, 15.00 (school record).
400 hurdles: 1. Kenisha Stubbs, 1:03.37 (school record).
4x100: 6. Tusculum (Carter, Wilson, Griffith, Adderley), 49.30.
4x400: 5. Tusculum (Bostick, Griffith, Stubbs, Coddington), 4:04.31.
Long jump: 7. Destini Wilson, 5.34m (17-6 1/4).
High jump: 5. Destini Wilson, 1.60m (5-3) (ties school record).
Team scores: 1. Queens, 228; 2. Wingate, 117; 3. Lenoir-Rhyne, 71; 4. Anderson, 70; 5. Limestone, 68; 6. Coker, 64; 7. Catawba, 58; 8. Tusculum, 53; 9. Carson-Newman, 50; 10. Lincoln Memorial, 18; 11. Newberry, 7; 12. Mars Hill, 6; 13. UVA Wise, 0.
