Cullowhee, N.C. – After a little more than a week away from live competition, the Western Carolina track and field teams return to the Tryon International indoor facility for the third and final time this season as the Catamounts compete in the East Coast Elites (ECE) Banked is Best Invitational.
The single-day meet is set to begin at 8:45 a.m. on Friday, with the first Catamounts scheduled to be in action at 9:45 a.m. with the women's weight throw and the women's 60mH. Student-athletes from 50 teams are scheduled to be in attendance, including six from the Southern Conference, including The Citadel, ETSU, Mercer, UNCG, and Wofford in addition to the Catamounts.
Friday's Meet:
ECE Banked is Best Invitational
Friday, Jan. 30: 8:45 a.m. - 9:05 p.m.
Teams (50): (Fri.) – Allen (S.C.), Belmont Abbey, Bluefield State, Bob Jones, Brewton-Parker, Bryan, The Citadel, Claflin, Covenant, Davidson, Emmanuel, Erskine, ETSU, Francis Marion, Gardner-Webb, Johnson C. Smith, Lander, Lees-McRae, Lenoir-Rhyne, Lincoln-Memorial, Livingstone, Maryville, Mercer, Montreat, Newberry, North Greenville, Oglethorpe, Pfeiffer, Providence, Radford, Richard Bland, Savannah State, SCAD (Atlanta), Shorter, Southern Wesleyan, Spartanburg Methodist, Tusculum, UNC Asheville, UNC Wilmington, UNC Greensboro, USC Beaufort, USC Sumter, Warren Wilson, Western Carolina, Wingate, Winston-Salem State, Winthrop, Wofford, WVU Tech, Young Harris
Italics – NCAA DI Team | Bold – SoCon Team
Live Results: https://tinyurl.com/zn2nb9sp
Catamounts to Watch:
Two of WCU's three track and field athletes of the week will see action on Friday, as Kolton Weaver and Lexie Durban are set to compete in their respective shot put and weight throws. Durban is the top seed in the women's event with a 15.78m toss in the event her last time out. Similarly, Weaver is the second seed in the shot put with a 15.63m personal best mark set last year.
Three other Catamounts enter Friday's action as the top seed in their event, with Justin Hayes (3000m), Josh Flack (men's high jump), and Austin Cline (men's weight throw) representing WCU. Hayes is slated to lead a heavy contingent of Catamount distance runners at the meet, with Matthias Peterson, Chase Thurber, Eli Clonch, and Jason Wade also set to compete in Mill Spring, N.C.
Sadler Miller and Ericka Jackson are the highest seeds on the women's side outside of Durban, with the duo ranking second and third in the high jump and the weight throw, respectively. A dual-sport athlete for the Catamounts, Miller is competing in her third indoor meet of the season, her most since 2023. Miller most recently took an event win in the high jump at the Tryon International Winter Invitational.
Jackson will have an opportunity to build momentum in the throws events as the Catamounts head into championship season, as the junior thrower currently ranks second and seventh in the SoCon in the shot put and weight throw, respectively.
Up Next for The Catamounts:
The Catamounts have another break from meet action before trekking to Lynchburg, Va., for the Liberty-hosted Darius Dixon Memorial Invitational on Feb. 13-14. WCU then competes in the 2026 Southern Conference Indoor Championships in Lexington, Va., Feb. 27-28.
The NCAA Indoor National Championships are scheduled to run March 13-14 in Fayetteville, Ark., with the Catamounts also set to open the 2026 outdoor season in Mobile, Ala. at the South Alabama Outdoor Invitational on those same dates.
