February 13, 2016

Snead, Stepp lead Eagles in Tiffin Dragon Invite

TIFFIN, Ohio—Four Carson-Newman indoor school records fell and Kevin Snead (Richmond, Va.) provisionally qualified for the second time this season as competition concluded Saturday evening at the Tiffin Dragon Invite.

TIFFIN, Ohio—Four Carson-Newman indoor school records fell and Kevin Snead (Richmond, Va.) provisionally qualified for the second time this season as competition concluded Saturday evening at the Tiffin Dragon Invite.

"While we didn't have some of the national qualifying marks we sought, we had many who competed hard and broke school records and also had another provisional qualification," coach David Needs said following his team's showing in the Tiffin Dragon Invite. "For us to be relevant in the national stage, we must as a team take advantage of opportunities like this to compete and get better. We need to continue to grow in moments where we are challenged."

Snead, who currently holds a national ranking and a provisional qualification in the men's 60m dash, accomplished the feats again on Saturday in the 200m dash. The junior's second-place finish of 21.73 seconds came within a field of 55 sprinters.

The latest of Snead's accomplishments join eight other Eagles who have provisionally qualified for indoor nationals in 11 events.

Lachlan Dickie (Knoxville, Tenn.), Randall Freeman (Chattanooga, Tenn.), Sarah Sharp (Lewis Center, Ohio) and Samantha Gudger (Bristol, Tenn.) also made headlines by each breaking current Carson-Newman indoor school records by recording personal-bests in their events.

Dickie's 15^th-place finish in the mile run captured the record with a 4:43.79 time and Freeman's school record mark of 15.12m in the shot put was good enough for a sixth-place finish on the day. Gudger's historic day came in the women's 60m dash, concluding the sprint in 8.08 seconds for a ninth-place finish. The women's 800m run saw Sharp set a new school record with a 2:24.92 time and a fifth-place mark.

Carson-Newman's lone first-place finish on the day came from Tanner Stepp (Jefferson City, Tenn.) in the men's high jump. The two-time All-American won the event after jumping 2.11m. The sophomore narrowly missed on the 2.16m mark that would have given him Division II's best mark of the season to date.

All in all, C-N had 26 top-10 finishes on the day—the most of any meet this season. Needs believes his team is continuing to grow each and every meet of the season.

"So proud of many of our athletes like Sarah Sharp, Aiyana Martino, Matt Rust, Madison Pickel, Anthony Jackson, Lachlan Dickie and Hannah Green who just go out and compete while continuing to get better in individual events," Needs said. "They may not be national qualifiers, but they make our team better because of their heart to compete."

Carson-Newman will be at it again for its regular season finale next weekend at Appalachian State.

To keep up with C-N track and field and all of Carson-Newman's sports, follow us on twitter at @CN_Track and @CNathletics, and online at cneagles.com.

Carson-Newman Men

60m Finals

Kevin Snead DQ

60m Preliminaries

2) Kevin Snead 6.93

17) Noah Hill 7.22

29) Jason Williams 7.48

200m Dash

2) Kevin Snead 21.73

6) Matt Rust 23.13

19) Noah Hill 23.73

400m Dash