Carson-Newman looks to bolster standing for nationals at Lee Last Chance
CLEVELAND, Tenn. - In their final meet before the National Championship event, the Carson-Newman track & field team returns to Cleveland for the Lee Last Chance on Saturday, May 14.
CLEVELAND, Tenn. - In their final meet before the National Championship event, the Carson-Newman track & field team returns to Cleveland for the Lee Last Chance on Saturday, May 14.
The event will feature over 50 teams from the NCAA Division-I and Division-II ranks, along with the NAIA level, full of athletes looking to either qualify or improve their marks before the NCAA National Championships.
The squad on display for the Eagles will be the men's sprints group. With the second-fastest time in all of Division-II acoording to TFRRS, the convocation hold four of the top-25 times in all of Division-II in the 100-meter run. Siphosethu Boya leads the crew with the eleventh fastest time, tied with Louis Rollins of Pittsburg State after running a 10.30 at the Nashville Outdoor Music City Challenge, tying the school record in the event. In the 200-meter run, Boya holds the 22nd fastest tim in the country with a time of 21.06 seconds set at the SAC Outdoor Championships.
His teammate and SAC Freshman of the Year Makanakaishe Charamba is behind him tied with Herman Chongwain of Quincy for the 14th fastest time after winning the gold medal at the SAC Championships with a time of 10.35 seconds. Charamba also won the gold medal in the 200-meter run at the SAC Championships and holds the eighth fastest time in the event in D-II, winning the race with a time of 20.84 seconds earlier this season at the Lee Flames Invitational.
Devon Moore sits in a three-way tie for the 20th fastest time in the country in the 100-meter run, tied with Philip Landrum of Fort Hays State and Braylen Brewer of Pittsburg State with a time of 10.40 seconds. Last season at the Lee Last Chance, Moore solidified his spot in the 2021 National Championships, running a time of 10.30 seconds, the second-fastest mark in Division-II last year.
PJ Lotharp is tied with Ojoshua Bunton of Lane right behind Moore for the 23rd fastest time in the 100-meter run. The Lenoir-Rhyne transfer finished third at the 2022 SAC Championships with a time of 10.41 seconds.
In the long jump, Joseph Oreva has a chance to not only move up the national leaderboard in the event, but tie or break the school record. His mark of 7.77 meters set at the Joe May Invitational at LSU is the second longest jump in Division-II. With a jump of 7.80 meters, Oreva would tie the school record set by Larry Cooke in 1977. Oreva broke Cooke's indoor record, also from 1977, at the 2021 ETSU Invitational with a jump of 7.84 meters.
Trayzel Jureidini-Wyche has a chance to qualify for the NCAA National Championships for the first time in his career. The senior holds the tenth furthest throw in Division-II in the discus, tossing a school record toss of 53.81 meters at the Montreat Invitational earlier this season. Jureidini-Wyche has finished inside the top-five in the event at 13 straight meets.
Several C-N athletes are on the edge of qualifying for the NCAA National Championships. Shane Connell looks to tie the program record for most consecutive wins in the high jump at the Lee Last Chance Meet. The Manchester, England native has won five straight event championships, including taking home the gold medal at the 2022 SAC Outdoor Championships. Tanner Stepp holds the record for consecutive high jump wins, winning six straight event championships including the 2018 NCAA Division II National Championship.
Connell's clearance of 2.05 meters at the Electric City Invitational is a personal best and a provisional mark, sitting him at 36th in Division-II.
On the women's side, Sydney McCarty would need a jump of at least 5.82 meters to set a provisional mark. The freshman took home her first career medal in the long jump at the 2022 SAC Outdoor Championships, finishing third with a jump of 5.57 meters. The freshman has recorded six straight top-five finishes in the event, including a mark of 5.62 meters at the Montreat Invitational.
Nathalie Schumacher needs a clearance of 1.68 meters to set a provisional mark in the high jump. The junior from Germany finished second at the 2022 SAC Outdoor Championships in the event with a clearance of 1.65 meters.
The Lee Last Chance Meet begins at 11:00 AM. Fans can follow along with live stats available here.
