Nicole Johnson sets school and conference meet record, Mekayla Brown with a facility record to help lead women to silver

LEXINGTON, Va. (Mar. 1, 2020) – As the month leaped to March, the ETSU Track and Field Team also made a significant leap, led by the women who surged all the way to a second-place finish at the Southern Conference Indoor Championships at the VMI Corps Physical Training Facility on Sunday.

Entering the second day in a spot for fourth place, the women found early momentum in the triple jump, earning 23 points between four Bucs to leap frog the standings into second place with the majority of the day ahead of them. After conceding the silver spot to Wofford, the Bucs made another push in the 60m sprint to get the top three places and distance themselves from the Terriers on their way to a second-place finish.

Mekayla Brown’s leapt her way into the record books, setting a facility and personal best 12.63m on her fifth attempt, not needing her last effort to grab gold in the triple jump.

Nicole Johnson also set records, beating her previous best while setting the conference record held for 15 years by .03 seconds, finishing the 60m in a time of 7.40s.

The men saw some bright spots over the course of the day, but were unable to garnish enough momentum to rise up the leaderboards. The Bucs scored 18 points on day two, placing seventh with a combined 34 points in the two days. Despite the finish as a team, the men were able to set 13 new personal records on the weekend, trying to swing momentum into the outdoor campaign.

Champions:

Aliyah Hill (long jump, 5.91m), Mekayla Brown (triple jump, 12.63m^), Nicole Johnson (60m dash, 7.40s*)

^ - facility record        *school and meet record

School Records

Nicole Johnson - 60m dash (7.40s); broke Emani Harrison's time of 7.49s set in 2013

All-Freshman Team Performers:

Women: Nicole Johnson (60m Dash), Kennedie Carithers (60m Dash), Julia Karsten (800m run), Nicole Johnson (200m dash), Kennedie Carithers (200m dash), Jataya Wilson (weight throw), Patra Williams (high jump), Sarah Morelock (high jump), Sarah Morelock (pentathlon), Jataya Wilson (shot put), 

Men: Myles Stoots (Mile), Miguel Parrilla (800m run), Marcus Evans (triple jump), Marcus Evans (long jump)

Field Highlights from Day Two of the SoCon Indoor Championships: 

• While dominating the long jump yesterday with four of the top eight finishes on the women’s side with a gold medal to match, ETSU once again crushed the event. Mekayla Brown, with the pack for her first four jumps, absolutely separated herself by leaping for a facility record of 12.63m, nearly a foot further than the old record, to grab gold for the Bucs. Aliyah Hill, winner of the long jump, continued her strong outing with a bronze medal while also topping the previous facility mark with a leap of 12.30m. Paige Peterson and Kendra Whitehurst produced fifth-sixth place marks with 11.70m and 11.49m jumps to secure 23 points in the event for the Blue and Gold.
• Kolin Miller finished off his weekend with another placement in the men’s weight throw, grabbing a sixth-place finish with a toss of 15.43m.
• Symphony Buxton was one of four Bucs to place in the women’s weight throw, leading the way for the Blue and Gold with a second place, 17.61m hurl. Jataya Wilson and Margaret Hayden followed up with a fifth-sixth finish with throws of 16.95m and 16.89m, while Jaden Finch gathered a valuable point with a 15.71m throw to finish eighth.
• Three Bucs grabbed a mark of 1.55m in the high jump to place in the event. Patra Williams’ mark grabbed her a fifth-place finish after clearing the bar on her first attempt. Brown and Sarah Morelock cleared the height on their second try, earning them a four-way tie for seventh.

Track Highlights from Day Two of the SoCon Indoor Championships:

• Garnishing the second-best mark in the prelims, Ben Varghese captured an eighth-place finish to grab a point for the Bucs, finishing with a time of 4:19.99.
• Genevieve Schwarz bested her prelim time in the mile yesterday by two seconds, finishing with a time of 5:02.86 to place sixth.
• Missing out on a top three finish by just .005 seconds, Kennedi Johnson finished with her best time in the 60m hurdles at the championships with an 8.876s, fourth place finish.
• The Bucs dominated the 60m sprint, finishing in first-second-third while also scoring in the sixth spot. Nicole Johnson cruised her way to a 7.40s finish to take gold, being joined on the podium by teammates Kennedie Carithers and Mekayla Brown who collected silver and bronze with times of 7.57s and 7.59s. LaNaya Martin finished .003s short of fifth, settling for a sixth-place finish to round out the group. Johnson’s time broke the previous record, a 7.43s time recorded in 2005.
• Finishing his freshman indoor season strong, Miguel Parrilla bested his time in the prelims with a fourth-place finish in the 800m, crossing the line in 1:53.53.
• Heather Feuchtenberger secured a spot in fifth in the women’s 800m, posting a time of 2:12.50.
• The Bucs earned another top three finish as Johnson followed up her blazing time in the 60m sprint with a bronze in the 200m, racing to a 24.56s time, only a tenth a second off of the leader. Fellow teammate Carithers trailed right behind, grabbing a fourth-place finish at 24.85s.
• Malick Gemechu highlighted the 5000m for the Bucs, grabbing the top mark of the Blue and Gold with a finish of fifth place with a time of 14:54.42. Matthew Scarr followed close behind, finishing eighth with a 15:08.97 time to place eighth.
• Lindsey Stallworth finished the individual races on the meet in the women’s 5000m, placing seventh to all but guarantee a second-place team finish for the Bucs with her 17:40.01 time.
• In the final event of the evening, the women’s 4x400m relay team (Johnaida Eliscar, Neyasha Honorable, Carithers and Britney Griffith) placed sixth with a time of 3:57.36. The men followed the event with a team of Bryce Turnbow, Parrilla, Braxton Richburg and Marcus Evans. The four raced to a fifth-place finish with a time of 3:24.52 to conclude the day’s event. 

Men’s results – Final

1. Samford – 190 points
2. Western Carolina – 160
3. Furman – 101
4. VMI – 64
5. Wofford – 56
6. The Citadel – 48
7. ETSU – 34
8. UNCG – 10

Women’s results – Final

1. Samford – 177.5 points
2. ETSU – 134
3. Furman – 109
4. Wofford – 97.5
5. Western Carolina – 78
6. VMI – 45
7. Chattanooga – 10
8. The Citadel – 9
9. UNCG – 3

Thoughts from Coach Watts

On the women’s second place finish – “Our women had a very good meet over the past two days and I feel we’ve turned the corner a little bit this indoor season.”

On the sprint and jump group – “The sprint and jump groups had a great meet with three conference champions. Congrats to Aliyah yesterday and Mekayla and Nicole today. All big personal bests including a school record by Nicole.

On the overall performance – “We had ten podium finishes and we need to continue to get more every meet. In a way I was more impressed by the fact that 22 of the 25 women we took found a way to score. Obviously, that translates into a good team score." 

On the men’s performance – “Our men had a rough one partly due to the limited squad size and to a lesser extent injuries. I thought the guys competed hard, we just didn’t have enough bodies to be in position to score. I look forward to our men’s team making progress during the outdoor season.”

Personal Records

Mekayla Brown - (7.53s, 60m prelims; 1.55m, high jump; 12.63m, triple jump)

Kennedie Carithers - (7.53s, 60m prelims; 24.85s 200m finals)

Johnaida Eliscar - (57.98, 400m prelims)

Margaret Hayden - (16.89m, weight throw)

Aliyah Hill - (5.91m, long jump; 12.40m, triple jump)

Neyasha Honorable - (25.99s, 200m prelims)

Kennedi Johnson - (3,061 points, pentathlon)

Nicole Johnson - (7.40s*, 60m finals; 24.56s, 200m finals) 

LaNaya Martin - (7.67s, 60m finals)

Sarah Morelock - (1.55m, high jump; 2,355 points, pentathlon)

Paige Peterson - (11.70m, triple jump)

Makayla Shaw - (18:06.77, 5000m)

Kendra Whitehurst - (5.71m, long jump; 11.49m, triple jump)

Jataya Wilson - (16.95m, weight throw)

Marcus Evans - (6.63m, long jump; 13.12m, triple jump)

Zach Fejeran - (12.83, shot put; 14.40m, weight throw)

Kolin Miller - (13.86m, shot put)

Kyle Noe - (7.16s, 60m prelims)

Braxton Richburg - (7.14s, 60m prelims; 51.53s, 400m prelims)

Matthew Scarr - (15:08.97, 5000m)

Noah Shelton - (13.18m, shot put; 14.32m, weight throw)

Myles Stoots - (1:59.65, 800m prelims)

Bryce Turnbow - (50.62s, 400m prelims)

For a full list of results at the SoCon Indoor Championships, check out the link to the right side of the article.

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