Eagles return to action at upcoming ETSU Invitational
Fresh off of a needed holiday break, Carson-Newman will continue to attack the indoor track and field season when the team takes a short trip to Johnson City, Tenn. for the ETSU Invitational.
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. -- Fresh off of a needed holiday break, Carson-Newman will continue to attack the indoor track and field season when the team takes a short trip to Johnson City, Tenn. for the ETSU Invitational.
Building off of the season-opening meet at the Bast-Cregger Invitational on Dec. 6-7, which saw a plethora of Eagles claim spots on the podium, the ETSU Invitational will feature a full team of athletes with returning players from the fall slate of sports in football and cross country back on the blocks.
Multiple Division I and Division II teams will be in attendance, with Appalachian State and Western Carolina highlighting the upper-division schools in attendance. Multiple South Atlantic Conference schools, including Lincoln Memorial and Tusculum will also see action during the weekend.
With the entire indoor team ready to compete, coach David Needs is ready to see what his squad is capable of and how to assess each individual for the rest of the indoor season.
"It's nice for us as a coaching staff to be able to go to this event and build our identity," Needs said.
Junior sprinter Devon Moore (Baxley, Ga.) returns for another indoor track season. Earning multiple SAC accolades, as well as All-American honors last season, 2020 will ring in even higher expectations with eyes set on Olympics trials later in the year.
On the throwing team, multiple male throwers will be getting their cracks at the weight throw Friday and the shot put Saturday. Using creativity to practice for upcoming events, throwing rings and other practice materials were built, by hand, with plywood to continue to perfect each athlete's craft each day throughout the season.
"They do things that, a lot of the time, there's not a lot of flash and there's not a lot of pizazz," Needs said. "But what there is, is a solid commitment to being better. They put in a lot of effort."
Somebody who clearly displayed a high level of effort himself in the opening weekend was freshman multi athlete Christian Shouse (Jacksboro, Tenn.), who earned the first SAC weekly accolades of the 2019-20 season with a 5000-plus point performance in the men's heptathlon last month. With this week's invitational not featuring a multi event, Shouse will compete in events selected by the coaches to help him improve in areas for later multi-event performances throughout the season.
A pair of high jumpers in Danilo Cardoso (Brazil) and Nathalie Schumacher (Germany) highlight the men's and women's athletes to watch for C-N. Needs credits both athletes with being patient, as they each waited for NCAA clearance to be eligible to compete. Both leapers will get their opening cracks to compete in an Eagles uniform Friday.
"Anybody that knows her really loves Nathalie because she's got a great heart and a great spirit and Danilo is the same way," Needs said.
Friday's schedule highlights include the women's high jump finals at 1 p.m. with Schumacher and other C-N women slated to reach the finals and the men's triple jump at 2 p.m. which James Wilson (Fontana, Calif) will attempt to reach the podium for a second-straight event after finishing second at the Bast-Cregger Invitational.
Saturday will feature the men's and women's mile run, 800 meters and 60-meter hurdles – all events that C-N previously medaled in last month.
All results can be tracked live by clicking the link here starting at 8:45 a.m. Friday. Be sure to check back each day for the most up-to-date results from C-N.
