BLACKSBURG, Va. – Campbell track & field recorded third place team finishes at the 2016 Big South Indoor Championships held in the Rector Field House at Virginia Tech University.
The women's team fell one point short of tying for second place, as they recorded a program-high 108 points overall. Coastal Carolina finished with 109 points, one spot behind Liberty, who won the meet with 178.5 points. This finish is the highest for the team since returning to the Big South. With the team's performance, head coach Michael Kelly earned the women's team coach of the year award.
For the men, they finished with 87 points and in third place behind High Point (148 points) and champion Liberty (258 points). In total, Campbell had 18 all-conference performances, including 12 from the women's team. The two sides combined for eight first place finishes as well.
"I am extremely proud of both squads this weekend," said coach Kelly. "Coach Harris and coach Quinn did an outstanding job getting their event groups ready for this meet. Our athletes put up a fight from the first event to the last. Obviously third place is not what we were shooting for, but I think it just put fuel on the fire for our upcoming outdoor season"
On the women's side, the 4x400-meter team consisting of Jocelyn Culbreath, Tatiana Wolfe, Racheal Brown and Roshae Jackson, finished in second place and set a new school record with their 3:48.90 finish. The team gained six points closer in the team standings for second place, but Coastal's seventh place finish earned them enough points to hold on for the runner-up position.
The women's distance medley relay team, comprised of Kelsey Rea, Brown, Jackson and Amina Alvarez-Barkane, claimed a key six points with their third place finish. The team completed the race in 12:16.79, claiming six points in their pursuit of second place.
Lilla Juhasz claimed the 2016 Big South Indoor Female Track Athlete of the Year with her performances in the 60-meter dash and 60-meter hurdles. In the dash, she claimed second place in the preliminary race and won in the finals with her new personal best time of 7.58s. In the hurdles, Juhasz claimed first place with her 8.40s performance in the finals. Also in the hurdles, Wolfe picked up a third place finish an 8.63s time. She also was named to the Big South All-Academic Team for her strong efforts and performances in the classroom.
Sabina Allen claimed first in the triple jump with her new personal best and school record of 13.01-meters. She won the event by .45 meters. Her performance places her No. 21 on the NCAA Indoor Performance list for the season, as the top-16 qualify for NCAA Championships. Allen also claimed first place in the women's long jump with her new personal best of 5.79-meters. Jaszlyn Jenkins finished third in the triple jump with her personal best of 11.85-meters. It was her first podium finish of her Campbell career.
Campbell women also picked up a first place finish in the women's high jump as Shenelle McKay finished with a 1.73-meter jump, a new career-best and Campbell record. She went perfect throughout the competition, not requiring more than one jump at each height. Her jump also tied the Big South Championship record set by Kierra Gabe from Coastal Carolina in 2011.
In the three women's distance events, Joan Maritim had podium finishes in each event. In the 3,000-meter run, she finished at 9:59.99. She also finished third in the 1-mile race, with a new personal best of 4:58.02. In the 5,000-meter race she finished second, running a 17:33.10. In total, Maritim earned 20 points for the women's team.
On the men's side, Davian Rhodes finished a perfect high jump session, winning the competition with his successful jump at the 2.11-meter height. He also attempted to clear the 2.17-meter height, which would have qualified him for the NCAA Indoor Championship meet.
Lorne Jenkins earned points in each of his events during the weekend. He finished fourth in the triple jump with his personal best mark of 15.06-meters. He finished eighth in the 60-meter dash with a 7.16s time, setting a new personal best. A long jump personal best of 7.32-meters placed Jenkins second in the long jump, .03-meters behind first place. He also participated in the men's 4x400-meter team that finished in third place, running a team-best lap time of 49.48s. Jenkins also represented Campbell on the Big South All-Academic Team for his performance and high marks in the classroom.
Tashinga Chitambira also claimed points for Campbell in the 60-meter dash with his time of 6.873, a second place photo finish, beating out third place by .005s.
In the men's distance event, Amon Terer claimed first place in the 5,000-meter race with his time of 14:50.21, 5.10 seconds ahead of second place. In the 3,000-meter race, Terer finished first with his 8:30.14 time, setting a new personal best.
Freshman Cornelius Scott finished fourth in 200-meter dash with his 22.01 time. He finished second in the preliminary race, running a 21.88 time, setting a new personal record. He also finished fifth in the 400-meter dash, running a 50.35s, another personal best. Khai McLin finished .02s behind Scott in the 200-meter dash with a 22.03s mark, a new career-best for the freshman. Another freshman, Jackson, claimed five points for the women's team with her fourth place finish in the 800-meter race, running a 2:14.21, .02s behind third place.
All-Conference List:
First Place:
Second Place:
Third Place:
All-Academic Team Members
Women's Coach of the Year
