LEXINGTON, Va. – Western Carolina sophomore Riley Center took the individual win in the men's shot put to highlight opening day performances for the Catamounts at the 2023 Southern Conference Indoor Championships at VMI's Corps Physical Training Center.

In the team standings, the men's team sits in second place with 37 points while the women's team is tied for sixth with 12 points. Samford leads both the men's and women's standings.

Sunday's action begins with the conclusion of the men's heptathlon with live ESPN+ coverage starting at Noon. Live results for all events can be found on catamountsports.com.

Center saved his best throw for his last, as the La Crescenta, Calif. native threw an indoor personal best mark of 14.44 meters (47'4.5") on his sixth and final attempt to earn the win. He is the first WCU student-athlete to win the men's shot put since Mateius Brown claimed the title in 2017 and 2018.

Jonathan Lehe tied a personal best as he cleared a height of 4.50 meters (14'9") to finish in third place in the men's pole vault.

The Catamounts took four of the eight scoring positions in the men's long jump, led by Tyler Rodriguez in third with a mark of 7.18 meters (23'6.75"). Rodriguez earned a third-place finish in the event for the second straight year. Noah Straley followed in fourth place with a mark of 7.08 meters (23'2.75") followed by Dohnavon Hunt in fifth with a personal best leap of 7.06 meters (23'2"). Javon Brown finished in seventh thanks to a leap of 6.86 meters (22'6.25").

The men's distance medley relay team of Henry Stecher, Nathan Williams, John Davis, and Jalen Elwell combined for a fourth-place finish with a time of 10:32.09.

Will Mitchell finished eighth in the men's 3,000-meter run with a time of 8:38.62.

On the women's side, Imani Boyd finished in fifth place in the women's high jump after she cleared a height of 1.58 meters (5'2.25"). Kate Mattison finished sixth in the women's 3,000-meter run in a new school record time of 9:41.69, breaking her previous record by 11 seconds. In the women's distance medley relay, Caroline Hilliard, Shaneil Lysight, Madelynn Duffield, and Mattison teamed up for a fourth-place finish with a time of 12:23.42.

Several Catamount student-athletes advanced through preliminaries for Sunday finals. In the men's 60-meter dash, Hunt, David Miles, and Skyler Miller will run in the finals with Hunt running the fastest time in preliminaries. Hunt, Miles, Straley, Teddy Ayden, and Michael Harris qualified for the men's 200-meter dash final with Harris also advancing to the men's 400-meter dash final. Davis and Stecher punched their ticket in the men's 800-meter run. Matthew Martin qualified for the men's mile run.

Dami Shodeinde, Imani Boyd, and Shaneil Lysight advanced to the finals of the women's 60-meter hurdles. Nytrinitey Jenkins and Mekyll Robinson will compete in both the women's 200-meter dash and 400-meter dash finals.

Keep track of everything related to Catamount track & field and WCU Athletics through its social media outlets on Facebook (fb.com/catamountsports) and Twitter (@catamounts, @catamountxctf).
 
Men's results – Day 1
1. Samford – 55.5 points
2. Western Carolina – 37
3. Furman – 35
4. ETSU – 30.5
5. VMI – 23
6. The Citadel – 10
7. Wofford – 3
8. UNCG – 0
 
Women's results – Day 1
1. Samford – 82 points
2. Wofford – 50
T3. Furman – 28
T3. ETSU – 28
5. VMI – 13
T6. Western Carolina – 12
T6. The Citadel – 12
8. Chattanooga – 9
9. UNCG – 0
 
Day 1 champions
Men: Shot put Riley Center, Western Carolina (14.44 meters); pole vault Walker Smith, Samford (4.65 meters); long jump Ty Kimberlin, Samford (7.44 meters); 3,000-meter run Carson Williams, Furman (8:22.51); distance medley relay Mac Roberts, Jonah Dill, Nick Epstein, Dylan Schubert, Furman (9:56.28).
 
Women: Pentathlon Netanya Linares, Wofford (3,795 points); long jump Eleyah Armstrong, VMI (5.86 meters); shot put Hannah Daffin, Samford (14.21 meters); 3,000-meter run Abigail Robertson, Furman (9:26.48); high jump Dorsey Parker, Samford (1.68 meters); distance medley relay Kaylie Armitage, Erin MacDevette, Camryn Wennersten, Megan Marvin, Furman, (11:25.60*).
 
* meet record
 
Men's All-Freshman – Day 1
Men's shot put
Johnerio Holt, Samford
Logan Wagner, ETSU
Eli Penix, Samford
 
Men's pole vault
Carter Ellis, Samford
Ethan Fulford, ETSU
 
Men's long jump
Noah Straley, Western Carolina
Dohnavon Hunt, Western Carolina
Claude Campbell, Samford
 
Men's 3,000-meter run
Luke Taylor, Furman
Xian Campbell, ETSU
Evan Pena, UNCG
 
Women's All-Freshman – Day 1
Pentathlon
Hannah Pettyjohn, Samford
Rashni Walker, Samford
Olivia Bagg, Wofford
 
Women's long jump
Jasmine Greene, Western Carolina
Se'More Green, VMI
Anaya Young, ETSU
 
Women's shot put
Ellie Sawicki, Wofford
Olivia Bagg, Wofford
Toria Roundtree, Western Carolina
 
Women's high jump
Dorsey Parker, Samford
Hannah Pettyjohn, Samford
Sadler Miller, Western Carolina
 
Women's 3,000-meter run
Jenna Mulhern, Furman
Chanelle Kruger, ETSU
Carly Wilkes, Furman