Cullowhee, N.C. -- The Western Carolina track and field teams are headed back to Virginia to close out the 2023-24 indoor season with this weekend's 2024 Southern Conference Indoor Track & Field Championships. The two-day champion-crowing event is scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 24 and Sunday, Feb. 25, at VMI's Corps Physical Training Facility. 

The Catamounts arrive in Lexington, Va., on Friday afternoon to squeeze in an evening practice before turning around to open Saturday with the heptathlon at 9 a.m. and the pentathlon at 9:15 a.m. Damon Worley, Colby Capps, Ethan Hibberts, Dakota Braucher, and Kendall Hudson will be the first Catamounts to see championship action with the men's throws squad taking the circle at 1:30 p.m. The first track action of the meet will start at 2 p.m. as the trio of Henry Stecher, John Davis, and Lawson Mecom compete in the mile run preliminary round.  

Sunday's action again starts at 9:00 a.m. as the heptathlon finishes up with the 60-meter hurdles, pole vault, and 1K portions of the combined event. The field events begin with the men's triple jump at 10:00 a.m. and action on the track hits the starting blocks with the mile run finals at Noon. 

Events to Watch 

As WCU is going for the coveted conference gold, every event this weekend is one to keep an eye on. However, the Catamounts hold elevated positions in several events entering the conference finale. A combined 14 Catamounts placed third or better in their respective events over the course of the regular season with the Purple and Gold holding the top spot in five events.  

Javon Brown has the best mark in the conference in the triple jump and is closely followed by Javell Brown in third in the event. The twins also hold the second and third-place spots, respectively, in the long jump. Competition in the distance jumps should be fierce as VMI's Keyandre Midgett is the only athlete other than the previously mentioned Catamounts in the SoCon to post marks further than 7.00m in the long jump and 14.95m in the triple jump.  

WCU's men's 4x400 meter and the distance medley relay (DMR) teams hold the top times in the conference and look to run their way to the top podium spots this weekend. The DMR team consisting of Henry Stecher, Kylen Crosby, Chase Thurber, and Knox Witherspoon earned a time of 10:31.02, which is nearly a full 30 seconds faster than second-place team VMI's best time on the season to date. The gap between first and second place in the 4x400 is closer as the Catamount quartet of David Miles, Teddy Ayden, Henry Stecher, and Elias Barton torched the track to the tune of a 3:16.85 finish at the Darius Dixon Memorial Invitational. The WCU 4x400 meter team is the only one in the conference to post a sub-3:19 time on the season so far. The VMI Keydets hold the second spot in the conference in the 4x400 as well.  

Reigning 2022-23 SoCon shot put champion Riley Center looks to secure back-to-back indoor championships. Some of his fiercest competition for the podium, though, will come from fellow Catamount thrower Austin Cline who sits second in the conference in the shot put and is also tied for first in the weight throw. Cline is one of only two athletes in the conference with throws further than 15.00m in the shot put and is tied with VMI's Andrew Granger with a 16.05m toss in the weight throw. Not only are Cline and Granger the only two athletes with throws further than 16.00m in the conference, but they are also the only two to smash the 15.00m benchmark as well.  

On the women's side of the championships, Heidi Hudson holds the top spot in the SoCon in the long jump thanks to a leap of 6.09m. The freshman is the only athlete to break the 6.00m barrier in the event this indoor season. Hudson is one of only two female freshmen to lead the conference in their event going into the championships. Wofford triple jumper Sherika Christie is the other, but Western Carolina's Jasmine Greene and Derica Currie round out the top three in that event going into the weekend.  

The women's 4x400m relay team of Nytrinitey Jenkins, Cymoria Thomas, Kyndal Saunders, and Leah Butler currently sits to earn silver in the event this weekend as their time of 3:57.56 at the Darius Dixon Memorial Invitational is second in the conference. However, the 2022-23 indoor 4x400 team posted their top time of the season at the Indoor Conference Championships en route to a top finish in the event.  

Saturday and Sunday's Meet 

SoCon Indoor Championships | Lexington, Va.  

Saturday, February 24 | 9:00 a.m.  

Sunday, February 25 | 9:00 a.m. 

Watch: ESPN+ (Coverage begins at 10:00 a.m.) 

Teams (10): Western Carolina, Chattanooga, The Citadel, ETSU, Furman, Mercer, Samford, UNCG, VMI, Wofford 
 

Results can be found at:  Southern Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships 2024 - Meet Results (milesplit.com)