Birmingham, Ala. – Western Carolina track and field battled through the elements on the first day of the 2025 Southern Conference Outdoor Championships, bringing home a few pieces of hardware and setting the stage for a strong day two push on Tuesday.  

The Catamount men's team is currently in second place in a competitive three-team race for the conference crown with the Furman Paladins leading after day one with 49 points. The Catamounts are second with 48 thanks to silver-medal efforts from Austin Cline n the hammer throw and Jackson Livingston in the javelin, while the host-school Samford is third with 45 points. WCU's women's team was led by Ericka Jackson, who took third in the women's javelin throw as the team pushed to fourth on the first day of competition.

Only six of 21 events have been counted so far, with WCU sending 25 qualifiers across both teams to the final rounds of competition in Tuesday's finals.

The decisive day of action begins with events scheduled to begin at 9 CT / 10 a.m. ET. Many of the finals will be broadcast on ESPN+ (paid subscription required) beginning at 11 a.m. CT / Noon ET with live scoring linked online at CatamountSports.com.

Austin Cline led the charge for the Catamounts, taking second in the hammer throw with a personal best 50.95m, the first toss over the 50m barrier in his career. Sitting sixth in the event's finals before an hour-long weather delay, the sophomore out of Catawba, N.C. pushed a little further on his sixth and final attempt, leaping four places in the standings to the runner-up spot. He was one of only two student-athletes with a throw of 50m or better on the day. Fellow Catamounts Austin Ramirez and Dominick Dale took fifth and sixth, respectively, as the WCU men's hammer squad racked up 15 points on day one.  

Jackson Livingston took second place in the javelin throw with a 56.71m attempt. The standout hit his second-place mark on just his third throw of the day, battling back from a foul on his first attempt. Livingston never fell from podium placement once recording an official attempt and was followed by Dominick Dale, who took sixth in the javelin throw.  

The final Catamount medalist of the day was Ericka Jackson, who broke into East regional rankings with her third-place earning javelin throw of 45.39m. Jackson fell just short of the Catamount program record in the event, a 45.40m mark by Ashlee Herendon in 2001. The sophomore earned her third SoCon bronze medal of the year after picking up two at the indoor championships in the shot put and the weight throw.

Similarly to Cline, Jackson's sixth and final attempt shot her up the final standings as the Hummelstown, Pa. product went from fifth to third with the throw. Freshman Lexie Durban took sixth in the event to score as well as the Catamount throwers paced the day on both sides.  

WCU had four qualify for the finals in the 110m hurdles, 800m, and 5,000m run, with two qualifying in the 400m hurdles and 800m event. Ethan Long was the lone Catamount to qualify for the 100m finals, and he was joined two others in the 200m finals.

The women's team saw Shaneil Lysight and Imani Boyd qualify for the finals in the 100m hurdles, with the two joined by Marie Harris in the 400m hurdles. WCU also has two in the 100m and 400m dash finals with one – Cymoria Thomas – in the 200m finals. The Catamounts have a pair of distance runners in the 5,000m run.

All-Freshman Catamounts 

Men's Hammer Throw – Trez Fouch 

Men's Long Jump – Elijah Cochran 

Women's Hammer Throw – Lexie Durban, Emmie Finley 

Women's Long Jump – Octavia Massena 

Women's Javelin Throw – Lexie Durban, Emmie Finley