March 2, 2021
Moore, Oreva selected to NCAA Division II Indoor National Championships
After last year's indoor track season was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Carson-Newman track and field squad will send two athletes to the National Championships for the first time since 2019.
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. - After last year's indoor track season was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Carson-Newman track and field squad will send two athletes to the National Championships for the first time since 2019.
Devon Moore qualified for the 60 meter and 200 meter runs in the 2021 NCAA National Championships while Joseph Oreva qualified in the long jump.
Moore's run of 6.74 seconds in the 60 meter at the UIndy Last Chance Meet ranks him fourth in the country, while his time of 21.44 seconds in the 200 meter at the VMI Classic is eighth in the country.
After finishing third and recording a false start in his first two 60 meter races of the season at the KMS Invitational in January, Moore has won seven straight races in the men's 60 meter to close out the indoor regular season. Moore has won 16 out of his last 20 races in the indoor 60 meter, his worst finish being in the finals of the 2019 Division II Indoor Championships where he finished seventh with a time of 6.86 seconds.
At the 2018 NCAA Division II National Championships, Moore did not finish the race in the 200 meter. Since then, the senior out of Baxley, Ga. has raced in the 200 meter in the indoor season 13 times, placing first in seven races and set a new school indoor record with a time of 21.24 seconds at the 2020 VMI Indoor Classic.
Moore will also look to make school history as he will have a chance to become, at least, a seven-time All-American, breaking a tie with former Eagle track athlete Tanner Stepp for the most All-American honors for a Carson-Newman track athlete.
Oreva obliterated the 44 year old indoor school record in the long jump with a distance of 7.75 meters at the Buccaneer Invitational on Feb. 5. It didn't take long for Oreva to break the record again as he jumped 7.84 meters in his final jump of the day just eight minutes later to win the competition. That distance still ranks first in the nation at the Division II level by 0.09 meters. For comparison, a jump of that distance would've placed Oreva second in the in the ACC men's long jump final.
Watching the ACC Indoor Track Championships and based off his school record breaking jump of 7.84 meters (25-8 3/4 feet), Joseph Oreva, a freshman for @CN_Track, would have finished second in the ACC this year. pic.twitter.com/5ReGa8YkLQ
— Richard Martin (@Ricardo_Knows) February 26, 2021
Oreva enters the national championships with three straight long jump event wins to start his career, with his closest win being by 0.30 meters at the KMS Invitational in Birmingham Crossplex on Jan. 24.
Moore and Oreva will look to win the first national championship for track & field since Stepp won the 2018 men's indoor high jump championship with a record breaking jump of 2.17 meters.
Moore will compete in the 60 meter run prelims at 3:45 PM eastern time and in the 200 meter run prelims at 4:25 PM eastern time on Friday, Mar. 12. If he were to qualify for the finals, Moore would race in the 60 meter finals at 3:10 PM eastern time and the 200 meter finals at 3:50 PM eastern time on Saturday, Mar. 13
Oreva will compete in the men's long jump prelims at 3:00 PM eastern time on Friday, Mar. 12, with the finals taking place right after the preliminary round.
All three days of the 2021 NCAA Division II Championships will be streamed live on NCAA.com.
