Lexington, Va. – Points were aplenty for the Western Carolina track and field teams on Sunday at the 2024 Southern Conference Indoor Championships as a Herculean second-day effort on the men's side secured the Catamounts a fifth straight second-place finish at the conference championship meet.
Samford claimed both the men's and women's SoCon indoor titles, edging WCU on the men's side and fending off Upstate foes Wofford and Furman in the women's competition with WCU finishing fourth.
The field events paved the way for the Catamounts silver medal team finish as WCU accumulated a staggering 42.5 points across the high and triple jumps, as well as the weight throw. Javell Brown led the second day contributions by adding 10 points to the Purple and Gold's second-place total of 121. In the circle, Dominick Dale took the top finish of the men's weight throw thanks to a bronze-medal toss of 15.06 meters. Three out of the four WCU men's throwers hit personal bests in the event with four out of five Catamount throwers scoring points.
On the track, the best finish of the day for the Catamounts came from CJ McFerrin, who sprinted to a third-place finish in the 60-meter hurdles. The junior transfer was joined by fellow first-year Catamount Quinton Godfrey as the freshman took third in the 200 meter with a blisteringly fast time of 21.71 seconds. In addition, John Davis took a bronze medal home thanks to his efforts in the 800-meter run where he was one of only three athletes to post a sub-1:54.00 time.
The Western Carolina women's team scrapped to a fourth-place finish in the conference, though had arguably the most exciting finish in the final event of the weekend in the women's 4x400 meter relay. Nytrinity Jenkins took command of the baton from Kyndal Saunders and found herself in fourth place. Jenkins quickly made-up ground, putting the Catamounts third in the event on the backstretch of the track before putting a final kick down the stretch, stealing the team a second-place finish to close out the indoor season.
The 4x400m relay team's silver medal was one of three that Jenkins would earn on the day as the Catamount junior took both third and second place finishes in the 200 and 400 meter dashes, respectively.
WCU had another second-time medalist during the second day of competition as reigning women's high jump champion Imani Boyd showed off her skills in the 60-meter hurdles. Boyd was one of only three student-athletes during the second day of competition to break the nine-second barrier and added a bronze medal to her collection.
In all over the two-day competition, the Catamounts claimed 12 podium finishes for their efforts during the SoCon Indoor Championships, including one event win, a pair of runner-up tallies, and nine third-place finishes.
The Catamounts now turn their attention to the 2024 outdoor track & field season where they'll first see action at the Montreat College Open scheduled for March 22-23.
Final Results
Men
Samford - 188
Western Carolina - 121.5
Furman - 112
VMI - 109
Wofford - 62.5
The Citadel - 49
UNCG - 11
Women
Samford - 160.5
Wofford - 117
Furman - 92
Western Carolina - 83.66
ETSU - 70
VMI - 68.5
Chattanooga - 37
The Citadel - 30.33
UNCG - 3
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