Rylan Jordan and 4x100m relay team cap off Tennessee Invite with sizzling performance
Rylan Jordan built off his strong first day at the Tennessee Invite with an impressive Saturday to conclude his weekend against stronger competition. The sophomore continues to top the time sheets in his respective events, cementing himself as one of the top sprinters in the nation.
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - Rylan Jordan built off his strong first day at the Tennessee Invite with an impressive Saturday to conclude his weekend against stronger competition. The sophomore continues to top the time sheets in his respective events, cementing himself as one of the top sprinters in the nation.
For head coach Kieran Showler-Davis, the weekend was a major step forward in his eyes for the entire team.
"It was a really great weekend of competition, in some great weather, going up against some great athletes. I think this weekend was a great confidence booster for a lot of athletes heading into the backend of the season," Showler-Davis said. "There are still some things that we can improve upon, but that makes it exciting over these next weeks knowing there's further room for growth."
Yesterday, in the 200m as Rylan Jordan and Amine Kasmi took second and third. The sophomore, Jordan, set a personal record time of 20.83 seconds, it is the sixth-fastest time in Division II. Meanwhile, Kasmi made his outdoor season debut at 20.89 seconds.
Today, Jordan recorded the top mark in the 100m with a time of 10.30 seconds. With Amine Kasmi taking sixth place at 10.42. Taylor Madison also ran in the 100m, recording a PB of 10.46 seconds.
Jordan's stellar weekend in Knoxville was capped off in the 4x100m relay. Alongside Kasmi, Madiso and Favour Ekpekpe, the quartet of Eagles came in second at 39.63 seconds, the fastest time at the Division II level this season.
On the women's side, Lovelyne Larrame claimed eighth in the 400m. Yesterday, Larrame set the school record in the 200m at 24.16 seconds.
Of note, C-N 2025 National Champion Andre Morrison, who is ineligible to compete this outdoor season for Carson-Newman, ran in the 100m unattached. He came in second at 10.34 seconds.
The two other relays in action were the men's and women's 4x400m. The men came in 10th at 3:17.79 with Jackson Thompson, Ekpekpe, Abiram Pramod and Ethan Blaylock. While Larrame, Lidija Djokic, Dominika Kooch and Axelle Ombelets picked up eighth in the women's 4x400m.
On the field side, the high-flying Blayne Jackson came home in fourth with a PB of 2.02m in the high jump. With Verrol Sam taking 13th at 1.97m. A trio of women's athletes finished in the top 20 on the high jump with Meiah Moss coming in 15th with a season-best 1.55m, Kellie Ivens and Kendall Whitehead both got 1.50m to take 16th and 20th, respectively.
In the women's long jump, senior Brooke Taylor edged her way into the top 10 with a 5.66m jump, finishing in ninth.
The Eagles also sent a group of athletes to the Scots Invitational, hosted by Maryville College. It was a smaller meet with a handful of schools competing, but it still presented a great opportunity for athletes to grow.
Carson-Newman wraps up the regular season next weekend at the Georgia Tech Invitational and the Tom Jones Memorial, hosted by the University of Florida, both meets set for the 17th and 18th of April. Then at the end of the month, the Eagles will gear up for the South Atlantic Conference Outdoor Championships in Emory, Virginia on April 29th and 30th.
