Southern Conference Championship Day One Results 

LEXINGTON, Va. - The Western Carolina University men's and women's track & field teams are both in solid positions at the end of day one at the 2018 Southern Conference Indoor Track & Field Championships in Lexington, Va. The men are looking to repeat as champions for the fifth-straight time while the women look to return to the top of the podium after a two year hiatus. The men sit in third after day one trailing Samford by seven points and ETSU by just three points while the women trail first place Samford by 37 points. The men trailed Samford last season by seven points following day one and went on to claim their fourth-straight title after day two.

The women qualified nine competitors for Sunday finals in the six preliminary events on Saturday while first place Samford has 11 competitors in those same finals. On the men's side WCU qualified 12 competitors in the preliminaries while first place Samford has nine and second place ETSU placed eight into Sunday finals.

The men and women each had one individual champion crowned on day one while several placed inside the scoring top-eight.

Senior Mateius Brown led a group of five Catamounts in the top-eight of the men's shot put. Brown took the individual title with a toss of 16.64m (54-07.50) which occurred on his second to last toss. Junior Dakota Wright, freshman Jay Stanley and junior Chase Stehling finished fourth through sixth earning valuable points for the Catamounts. Wright measured in at 15.79m (51-10.00) while Stanley's best toss was 14.77m (48-05.75). Stehling, a two-sport athlete at WCU, took sixth with a mark of 14.75m (48-05.00). The final scorer in the event was freshman Mac Bennett who took eighth with a toss of 14.35m (47-01.25). Overall the quintet compiled 23 team points for WCU in the event.

Junior Simone Williams continued her outstanding indoor campaign by winning the women's shot put. Senior Alisha Blackmon joined Williams on the podium as the pair swept the top two spots in the event. Along with sophomore Amy Yarborough claiming fifth, the Catamounts tallied 22 total points in the shot put. Williams tossed the element 13.56m (44-06.25) to claim the top spot while Blackmon finished just nine and a quarter inches behind Williams with a mark of 13.33m (43-09.00). Yarborough measured in at 12.64m (41-06.00).

Sophomores Jazmine Gooden and Makaila McIntyre each placed in the top-six of the women's long jump to score eight points for the Catamounts. Gooden took fourth with a leap of 5.81m (19-00.75) while McIntyre finished in sixth after measuring in at 5.73m (18-09.75).

Junior Marisa Scott and freshman Autumn James teamed up to score seven points for the women in the pentathlon. Scott took fourth in the event to earn five points. Her top scoring event was the 60m hurdles where she gained 834 points. Overall the junior scored 3,330 points in the event. James finished with 3,050 points with her top total coming in the high jump where she scored 818 points.

Freshman Kinley Drummonds picked up 5.5 points for the women in the pole vault as she cleared 3.20m (10-06.00) to finish tied for third with Samford's Lauren Torsch.

Senior Kevin Hires picked up five points for the Catamounts in the men's long jump as he touched down at 7.05m (23-01.75) to claim fourth in the event.

Sophomore J'len Wilson earned five valuable points for the men in the high jump after clearing 1.93m (6-04.00) to take fourth in the event. Freshman Khadevis Snead took eight after leaping over 1.88m (6-02.00) which earned one point for the Catamounts.

The men's distance medley relay took fourth overall with a time of 10:15.59. Sophomore Tyler Robakiewicz, junior Nick Lawson, junior Miles Greer and junior Jordan Bostian teamed up to earn five points for the Catamounts. On the women's side it was junior Christina Nikolaou, freshman Dominique Delisser, freshman D'Amani Bryant and junior Kaitlyn Lingard working together to take fifth with a time of 12:12.84. The finish earned WCU four team points.

Freshman Matthew Mudd sits in fourth in the men's heptathlon after four events on day one of the championships. He is in prime position to score some valuable points for the Catamounts tomorrow as the heptathlon concludes.

The championships will conclude tomorrow night. Fans can follow all the action through live results on CatamountSports.com.

All-Southern Conference Performers (Women)
Alisha Blackmon, shot put second
Kinley Drummonds, pole vault third
Simone Williams, shot put champion

All-Southern Conference Performers (Men)
Mateius Brown, shot put champion

All-Freshman Performers (Women)
Kinley Drummonds, pole vault
Autumn James, pentathlon
Makaila McIntyre, long jump
Erin Willard, long jump

All-Freshman Performers (Men)
Mac Bennett, shot put
Khadevis Snead, high jump

Women's results -- Day 1
1. Samford -- 83.5 points
2. Western Carolina -- 46.5
3. Wofford -- 28
4. Furman -- 26
5. ETSU -- 19
6. VMI -- 17
7. The Citadel -- 6
T8. UNCG -- 4
T8. Chattanooga -- 4

Men's results -- Day 1
1. Samford -- 46 points
2. ETSU -- 42
3. Western Carolina -- 39
4. Furman -- 33
5. VMI -- 12
T6. The Citadel -- 11
T6. Wofford -- 11
8. UNCG -- 1