GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- The Tusculum University men's and women's indoor track and field teams will participate in the South Atlantic Conference Championship on Saturday and Sunday at the JDL Fast Track in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
The Pioneer women placed fifth in last year's meet while the men are looking to improve on a ninth-place result. A total of 12 teams will be competing at the championship meet, which consists of 18 events for both men and women. Tusculum has entries in 11 women's and nine men's events at the meet.
WOMEN'S PREVIEW
Senior Jahzara Hart (Raleigh, N.C.) is the top seed in both the 60 meters (7.31 seconds) and 200 meters (23.93 seconds), both set at the VMI Winter Relays. Hart is currently ranked third in Division II in the 60 and ninth in the 200 meters. Last year, Hart placed second in the 60 meters and third in the 200 meters at the SAC Indoor Championship.
Tusculum has five runners seeded among the top eight in both the 60 and 200, with sophomore Qitarah Castlin (Griffin, Ga.) second in the 60 meters (7.44 seconds) and fourth in the 200 (24.72). Senior Shanice Cox (Minneapolis, Minn.) is ranked third in the 60 (7.54) and second in the 200 (24.18), with sophomore Kori Moore (Jonesboro, Ga.) third in the 200 (24.51) and fifth in the 60 (7.69). Junior Alonda Shelton (Greensboro, N.C.) is seeded seventh in the 60 (7.72) and eighth in the 200 (25.03).
Moore is also the top seed in the 60 hurdles and ranked 11th nationally with a time of 8.46 seconds set at the Vanderbilt Invitational, and was runner-up at last year's SAC Championship as a freshman. Junior Kialia Claiborne (Lancaster, Texas) is seeded seventh in the 60 hurdles (8.97) and is also seeded ninth in the 400 meters at 57.52 seconds.
Junior Kieley Smith (Greeneville, Tenn.) is entered in the pentathlon after setting a program record with 2,780 points at Vanderbilt. She is also entered in the 60 hurdles and in the long jump for the Pioneers.
In throws, freshman Shamyra Reid (Ocala, Fla.) will compete in both the shot put and the weight throw, and is seeded eighth in the shot put with a best throw of 11.50 meters set at the VMI Winter Classic.
Tusculum is the top seed in the 4x400 relay, with a time of 3:50.41 set by the quartet of Moore, Shelton, Cox and Castlin at the VMI Winter Classic. The Pioneers are also seeded sixth in the distance medley relay, as the quartet of freshman Hannah McLain (Limestone, Tenn.), Shelton, senior Jesica Mbhamali (Johannesburg, South Africa) and freshman Abby Counter (Richmond, Texas) ran 13:10.76 at Vanderbilt.
MEN'S PREVIEW
Junior Lansford Cunningham (Montego Bay, Jamaica) is the number two seed in the long jump, with his top mark of 7.55 meters (24 feet, 9 1/2 inches) at the VMI Winter Classic standing as the third-best mark in Division II this season.
Freshman Ivan Garcia Rubio (Dos Hermanas, Spain) is seeded second in the 60 hurdles at 8.06 seconds, which ranks him 35th in Division II. He will be joined in the event by grad student Jamal Cash (Kingman, Ariz.), who is seeded eighth at 8.56 seconds, and sophomore Justin Williams (Suffolk, Va.) who is the ninth seed at 8.58 seconds.
Junior Chazz Alexander (Palo Seco, Trinidad and Tobago) is seeded second in the 400 meters after running 48.18 seconds at the VMI Winter Relays. Freshman Lamarkus Dunn (Jonesborough, Tenn.) is ranked 11th in the event at 49.63 seconds.
In the 800 meters, freshman Tomas Ribeiro (Colares, Portugal) is ranked eighth in the 800 meters, as he posted a school-record time of 1:54.21 at the Vanderbilt Invitational.
Junior Nour Nabi (Woodbridge, Va.) is entered in the pentathlon and is the number-two seed after accumulating 4,143 points at the VMI Winter Relays. Nabi will also compete in the 60 hurdles.
Senior Jaden Gary (Miramar, Fla.) is seeded sixth in the shot put with a best throw of 14.17 meters (46 feet, 6 inches) at the Tryon International Collegiate Opener.
Also entered for the Pioneers are freshman Cedric Stewart II (Dallas, Ga.) in the 60 meters and the long jump, and sophomore Levi Carson (Hammond, La.) in the 800 meters).
The Pioneers are seeded second in the 4x400 after the group of Dunn, Cunningham, Garcia Rubio and Alexander ran 3:17.80 at the VMI Winter Relays. In the distance medley relay, Tusculum is ranked fourth with the quartet of freshman Albert Ziegler (Sollentuna, Sweden), junior Kayvon Pickett (High Point, N.C.), Carson and Ribeiro ran 10:26.94 at Vanderbilt.
