GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The Fire are bringing home the hardware. Southeastern University's men's and women's indoor track & field teams won their respective Sun Conference Championships on Saturday. They remain the only programs to win the indoor titles since the inception of the events.
The two Fire teams claimed a combined nine top finishes and another eight second and third place finishes in guiding their title-winning efforts. Freshman Alyssa Morley was named Sun Conference Freshman of the Year.
"Today was awesome and one of the coolest moments in my coaching career" said head coach Nick Dodson. "I want to thank my Lord and Savior first for allowing our team and staff to do what we love."
"The success today is about relentless effort and everyone putting WE over ME," continued Dodson. "The way we as a staff saw the growth of so many young athletes we have and how the veterans stepped up and guided them was amazing. The guys found a way to win a close one and the women dominated from start to finish, and both were beautiful to watch. They answered the challenge and continued the standard of this program. I couldn't be more proud of them all."
Irmiris Mendez, Maci Mills and Alyssa Morley grabbed SEU women's individual titles, while both the 4x800 and 4x400-meter relay teams added those first places. For the men, Dario Laing, James Williamson III and Davien Worrels claimed first place each then clinched the title with a 4x400 relay win.
The Fire women ran away with the team title by 90 points. SEU totaled 248 points with St. Thomas University a distant second at 158 points.
The men's final standings were decided by only 2.5 points, as SEU held on to best St. Thomas, 238.50 to 236.
The afternoon ended in dramatic fashion on the men's side, as SEU needed a win in the 4x400 relay to have any shot at the title. The Fire came through, as Kevin Davis Jr., Williamson III, Worrels, and Joseph Taylor won with a time of 3:13.19. However, with a second place finish, St. Thomas would have narrowly beaten the Fire. But the Bobcats, running in second place, dropped the baton on a transfer and finished fifth, giving SEU the title.
"The guys found themselves in a dog fight and ultimately found a way," said Dodson. "[The whole meet] coming down to the 4x400 is not always the way you want it, but boy does it build some character in your team. You find out what type of cloth they cut from very quickly when adversity strikes, and we love what we witnessed today."
Back on the women's side, with a trio of top performances, Mendez broke her own Sun Conference record, set last spring, in the 60-meter hurdles by .02 seconds, as she claimed first in the event in 8.66. The senior narrowly missed a second individual top spot in the 60-meter dash with a time of 7.58, only 0.03 behind the top finisher, in second place.
In the 600-meter run, Maci Mills also set a new Conference standard as she ran a time of 1:36.42. Her teammate Jaa'Ln McBride was right behind her with a time of 1:46.63 in second, which also broke the old record of 1:37.63.
In the field events, Alyssa Morley leaped her way to first place for the triple jump with a distance of 11.66 meters.
SEU eclipsed its own 4x800-meter relay team Sun Conference record by almost 16 seconds. The group of Jillian Blaser, Natalie Rohm, Jaa'Ln McBride and Mills ran to a winning time of 9:13.61. The record set last year was 9:29.22. Their time is also the fastest 4x800 in the NAIA this year.
For the men, Laing hurdled his way to the 60-meter title in 8.18 seconds, while Williamson III sprinted to the top finish in the 60-meters, finishing in 6.82 seconds.
Worrels was the third Fire top-placer when he crossed the finish line in 1:20.65 for the 600-meter title.
Wrapping up the meet, the SEU women's 4x400-meter relay team claimed its final first place. The quartet of Ar'Briel Scott, Mills, McBride and Mendez ran to a time of 3:57.47 to win the event.
Blaser recorded the final top three track finish with her third in the 1000-meters in 3:09.14. Both Feder and Jadyn DeVerna were right behind in fourth (3:11.75) and fifth (3:14.14).
The SEU women had a trio post points in the pole vault. Aubrey Sellers bested her prior Sun Conference time by 0.43 meters with height of 3.30 meters for second place. Amari Graham and Sophia Bou tied at 2.70 meters for third and fourth.
MarieAnge Moussignac threw 15.26 meters for third in the weight throw.
Jessica Brown and Natalie Rohm wrapped up the two-day pentathlon in third and fourth with 2,609 and 2,606 points.
Cody Rand threw 13.90 meters for the other SEU men's top three finish for third in the weight throw.
The SEU men's 4x800-meter relay was the final top three with a third in the event with a time of 8:27.28.
The SEU national qualifiers will have two weeks off before they return to Gainesville, Fla., for the NAIA Indoor National Championships from February 27 - March 1.
Other Scoring Saturday Fire Team Members
Men:
3000m
7 – Luke Van Scoy (8:56.83)
8 – Joshua Shields (8:58.89)
1000m
6 – Jeremy Durbin (2:37.45)
60m Hurdles
5 – Josiah Dunlap (8.60)
60m
4 – Davien Worrels (6.89)
6 – Joseph Taylor (6.92)
7 – Cameron Alamia (6.94)
600m
6 – Mario Thomas (1:22.67)
7 – James Turner (1:22.72)
Mile
4 – Ethan Campbell (4:20.76)
Weight Throw
5 – Lucky Baldwin (12.81m)
Heptathlon
4 – Zackary Cho-Sam (3,762 points)
6 – Jeremiah Stewart (3,627)
7 – Mario Thomas (3,567)
Women:
3000m
5 – Izzy Colebank (11:02.51)
6 – Ashlin Price (11:08.16)
60m Hurdles
5 – Ar'Briel Scott (9.15)
60m
8 – Emily Powelson (8.08)
Mile
5 – Jadyn DeVerna (5:26.48)
8 – Jaade McBride (5:30.01)
Weight Throw
6 – Allison Craig (13.19m)
7 – Emma Terry (13.15m)
