WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. --- Tusculum University sophomore sprinter Kori Moore was honored as the South Atlantic Conference Women's Indoor Track Athlete of the Meet after helping the Pioneers to a program-best second-place finish at the SAC Championship.

Moore won the 60 hurdles on Sunday and ran the leadoff leg on the 4x400-meter relay that set a school and conference meet record en route to clinching the second-place finish in the team standings for the Pioneer women. She is the second Pioneer to win a major SAC Indoor Track & Field Championship award and first female winner, joining Widchard Guervil in 2022.

In addition to her two golds, Moore won bronze as part of a podium sweep by the Pioneers in the 60 meters, and added a fifth-place finish in the 200 meters. All four of her races came in the span of 2 1/2 hours on Sunday.

Senior Jahzara Hart swept gold in the 60 and 200 meters for the Pioneers, while sophomore Qitarah Castlin ran the anchor leg of the 4x400 relay and added a silver medal in the 60 and bronze in the 200. Senior Shanice Cox also had a silver medal in the 200 meters and was on the winning 4x400 relay for the Pioneers.

The Tusculum men finished eighth overall, with freshman Tomas Ribeiro earning a bronze medal in the 800 meters while breaking his own school record in the event by 2 1/2 seconds.

WOMEN'S RECAP
Tusculum got off to a quick start as junior Kialia Claiborne finished fourth in the 400 meters at 57.04 seconds, the third-fastest time in program history and just off her school-record mark of 56.53 seconds set in preliminaries on Saturday.

The Pioneers then swept the top three and placed four in the 60 meters as Hart won gold at 7.43 seconds, followed by Castlin at 7.50 seconds and Moore in third at 7.66 seconds. Junior Alonda Shelton was seventh at 7.81 seconds for the Pioneers.

Moore collected gold for the Pioneers in the 60 hurdles, running 8.57 seconds in the finals to improve her finish from one spot over last season.

Hart would add her second gold of the day in the 200 meters, matching her preliminary time of 23.77 seconds in the finals and leading another sweep of the medals for the Pioneers. Cox took second place at 23.90 seconds, followed by Castlin in third at 23.92 and Moore in fifth at 24.69. Shelton took eighth in the event at 25.26 seconds.

Tusculum picked up critical points in the shot put as freshman Shamyra Reid came up with a season-best throw of 11.61 meters (38 feet, 1 1/4 inches) on her first attempt of the competition to earn a fifth-place finish.

The Pioneers earned their fourth gold of the day in the 4x400 relay as Claiborne took the lead on the third leg and Castlin brought home a winning time of 3:45.17, just over a second ahead of runner-up Carson-Newman and crushing the previous program record of 3:50.05 set at the South Carolina Indoor Open on Feb. 22, 2020. Their time also smashed the SAC meet record of 3:53.82 set by Lenoir-Rhyne in 2024.

Wingate won the team title with 161 points, with Tusculum earning 92 points to take second over Catawba (89) and Lenoir-Rhyne (85). Lincoln Memorial was fifth in the field of 12 teams with 60 points.

MEN'S RECAP
Ribeiro was sixth in prelims with a time of 1:54.03 and was fifth entering the final lap, but recorded a closing split of 28.11 seconds to sneak into third place at 1:51.59. The top six finishers in the event all broke the previous SAC record of 1:52.74 set in 2022.

Junior Chazz Alexander was sixth in the 400 meters at 49.08 seconds, with junior Nour Nabi placing sixth in the heptathlon with 3,833 points. Grad student Jamal Cash was eighth in the 60 hurdles at 8.66 seconds, and the 4x400 relay finished seventh overall at 3:19.92.

In the field, senior Jaden Gary was 13th in the shot put with a mark of 13.44 meters (44 feet, 1 1/4 inches).

Wingate more than doubled runner-up Carson-Newman in the points battle, winning with 188.5 points to 93 for Carson-Newman and 80 for third-place Catawba. Anderson was fourth with 69 points, followed by Lenoir-Rhyne at 66 and Mars Hill in sixth at 44. Newberry finished seventh with 41 points, with the Pioneers placing eighth overall at 27 points in the 12-team field.

South Atlantic Conference Indoor Track & Field Championship
at Winston-Salem, N.C. (Day 2 of 2)
Tusculum results

WOMEN
60: 1. Jahzara Hart, 7.43; 2. Qitarah Castlin, 7.50; 3. Kori Moore, 7.66; 7. Alonda Shelton, 7.81; Shanice Cox, FS.
60 hurdles: 1. Kori Moore, 8.57.
200: 1. Jahzara Hart, 23.77 (ties school record); 2. Shanice Cox, 23.90; 3. Qitarah Castlin, 23.92; 5. Kori Moore, 24.69; 8. Alonda Shelton, 25.26.
400: 4. Kialia Claiborne, 57.04.
4x400: 1. Tusculum (Moore, Cox, Claiborne, Castlin, 3:45.17 (SAC record/school record).
Shot put: 5. Shamyra Reid, 11.61m (38-1 1/4).

Team scores: 1. Wingate 161; 2. Tusculum 92; 3. Catawba 89; 4. Lenoir-Rhyne 85; 5. Lincoln Memorial 60; 6. Carson-Newman 53.5; 7. Anderson 51; 8. UVA Wise 38.5; 9. Mars Hill 11; 10. Newberry 9; 11. Coker 8; 12. Emory & Henry 2.

MEN
60 hurdles: 8. Jamal Cash, 8.66.
400: 6. Chazz Alexander, 49.08.
800: 3. Tomas Ribeiro, 1:51.59 (school record)
4x400: 7. Tusculum (Dunn, Cunningham, Garcia Rubio, Alexander), 3:19.92.
Shot put: 13. Jaden Gary, 13.44m (44-1 1/4).
Heptathlon: 6. Nour Nabi, 3,833 points.

Team scores: 1. Wingate 188.5; 2. Carson-Newman 93; 3. Catawba 80; 4. Anderson 69; 5. Lenoir-Rhyne 66; 6. Mars Hill 44; 7. Newberry 41; 8. Tusculum 27; 9. Lincoln Memorial 18; 10. UVA Wise 14; 11. Coker 12; 12. Emory & Henry 9.5.