Eagles make final push for Nationals at Lee Last Chance Meet
CLEVELAND, Tenn. - After a record setting weekend in Black Mountain, the Eagles head to Lee University for the last meet before the NCAA Outdoor Championships.
CLEVELAND, Tenn. - After a record setting weekend in Black Mountain, the Eagles head to Lee University for the last meet before the NCAA Outdoor Championships.
The Lee Last Chance Meet will be a one day meet, beginning with the hammer throw and shot put at 10:30 A.M. on Saturday, May. 15. The first running events will begin at 3:00 PM with the men's 4x100 meter relay. A link to live stats is available at cneagles.com.
Carson-Newman is coming off a first-place finish at the Montreat Final, thanks to record breaking performances by the throws squad. Trayzel Jeuridini-Wyche broke his own record in the discus for the second straight week with a toss of 53.09 meters to win the event and move up into the top-15 in the nation.
After breaking the 42 year-old school record in the hammer throw on Mar. 26 at Montreat, Austin Gramann needed only 42 days to break the school record again at the same facility with a toss of 47.74 meters to finish second.
On the women's side, Ashton Abbott broke her own record in discus that was also set at Montreat College in 2019. Abbott reset the record book with a throw of 39.00 meters to finish fourth in the event.
Carson-Newman will compete for the second time this season at the new Lee Flames Track Facility. The team last competed at the Lee Flames Invitational on Apr. 9-10. The men's team finished third while the women finished seventh.
Devon Moore won the 100 meter run with a time of 10.38 seconds, his sixth career victory in the 100 meter run. Moore's time moved him into a tie for third fastest in Division II at the time. Moore now sits at seventh in the nation in the 100 meter run and fourth in the nation in the 200 meter run.
Sterling Melancon has had a phenomenal freshman season. The SAC Outdoor Men's Track Freshman of the Year has finished in the top 10 in 24 of the 25 races he has competed in between the indoor and outdoor seasons, his worst finish a 14th place finish in the 200 meter run at the Lee Invitational.
Meanwhile, three of the top five spots in the men's high jump went to the Eagles. Isaiah Kyle finished second with a clearance of 2.10 meters. Shane Connell finished third with a clearance of 1.95 meters, while Christian Shouse's clearance of 1.95 meters put him in fourth and is a new outdoor personal best.
Kyle's mark of 2.12 meters at last week's Montreat Final moved him to seventh in the nation and is now just 0.02 meters from an automatic qualifying mark in the event.
In the long jump, Courtavious Garrett sits just 0.02 meters from a provisional mark after setting a new personal best jump with a distance of 7.24 meters at Montreat.
Despite a heel injury at the end of the indoor season, Joseph Oreva has stayed at the top of his game in the long jump. His provisional mark of 7.40 meters ranks the freshman at 20th in the nation for Division II.
Josh Whitaker has had a solid start to his Carson-Newman career. The freshman has finished in the top-10 of the pole vault in every single event he's competed in between the indoor and outdoor seasons, including an eighth place finish at the Tennessee Challenge as the only athlete in the field not from an NCAA Division I school.
Nathalie Schumacher currently sits at 22nd in the nation in the high jump with a provisional mark of 1.70 meters. Schumacher has finished in the top-10 of the high jump in 12 straight events and has five event wins between the indoor and outdoor seasons this year.
Abby Owens has been on quite the tear this season. The sophomore has finished either first or second place in the pole vault at every meet she's competed in except one between the indoor and outdoor seasons.
Tia Davis and Amanda Lowe will race in the 100 meter dash this weekend. Lowe has the fastest time on the women's side in the event with a time of 12.19 seconds.
Both men's and women's 4x100 meter relay teams will compete this weekend at Lee. The last time both squads competed, the two teams finished third at the SAC Outdoor Conference Championships, the highest finish for the men's team since 2015.
Following the meet, the Eagle athletes will await their seedings and selections to the NCAA Division II Outdoor National Championships in Allendale, Mich. on the campus of Grand Valley State University, beginning on May. 27.
