RESULTS
DAY 1 RECAP |
DAY 2 RECAP
ROME, Ga. – The Lee University Women's Track & Field Team completed its comeback to win the 2017 Gulf South Conference Championship Saturday afternoon at historic Barron Stadium. The Flames settled into the third-place spot in the men's competition.
The Lady Flames used seven gold medal performances on Saturday to finish with 200 points and win the title by 34 points over their closest competitor. Shorter University was second (166) and Alabama Huntsville was third (162).
"The overall performance of the women's team this weekend was so outstanding it cannot be adequately described in words," said Lee head coach Caleb Morgan. "
Jessica Childers was named Most Outstanding Track Performer and Most Outstanding Overall Performer. The senior was first in the 1500-meter (4:51.24) and 5000-meter (18:36.33) runs and added a third-place finish in the 800-meter run (2:15.90). Childers was second in the 3000-meter steeplechase Friday night.
Camilla Sims earned the designation of Most Outstanding Freshman and Most Outstanding Field Performer of the meet. After hitting gold in the shot put on Friday, Sims added another gold medal with a 35.31 toss in the discus throw.
Charlee Boxall, Blakely Moore, Madison Hodges and Lily Fell joined Childers in the 1500-meter run. Boxall was fourth (5:00.11) and Moore finished seventh (5:06.45). Hodges cross the finish line in 11
th (5:18.10) and Fell was 13
th (5:28.27).
Audrey Smith and Amy Carpenter followed Childers across the finish line of the 5000-meter run to give the Lady Flames ownership of the top three spots. Smith finished the race at 18:37.04, while Carpenter recorded a time of 18:39.16. Becca Umbarger was sixth (18:56.69) and Logan Hernandez was 11
th (19:36.02).
"Audrey repeated as GSC steeplechase champion and, like Jessica, her willingness to run multiple events greatly benefited our team," added Morgan.
Cayce Bryan set a new GSC Championship record with a time of 2:13.15 in the 800-meter run. Boxall placed sixth (2:21.48) and Lacey Duvall was 10
th (2:28.41).
Adrian Martin broke her own GSC Championship records from last year to win both the 100 and 200-meter dashes. Martin posted a time of 11.66 in the 100-meter and stopped the clock at 23.70 in the 200-meter. Her times are the No. 5 and No. 2 times in DII, respectively. Kiley Brock finished fourth (12.23) in the 100-meter and was sixth (25.29) in the 200-meter.
Nicolette Gordon earned gold in the pole vault in her first time competing in two years. The freshman recorded a height of 3.20 meters.
Hannah Buttolph placed fifth in the high jump after clearing 1.63 meters and Jordan Allison placed fourth (1:05.32) in the 400-meter hurdles. The women's 4x400-meter relay team finished in sixth with a time of 4:09.73.
"We had many athletes perform well above expectations," admitted Morgan. "Jordan Allison competed in her first heptathlon ever and earned the GSC title. After not competing for a year due to injury, Nicolette Gordon turned in an amazing performance to take the win in the pole vault and, after dealing with a persisting injury, senior Cayce Bryan returned to true form, winning the 800-meter in meet record time. Other exceptional performances of note include Kiley Brock in the 100 and 200-meter dashes, Lily Fell and Logan Hernandez in the 10k and Amy Carpenter in the 10k and 5k. I couldn't be more proud of the precedent these women have set for the future of our program."
The Lady Flames finished the meet with the most medals. Lee won 10 gold, three silver and three bronze for 16 total.
Seven Lady Flames earned GSC First Team All-Conference honors by placing first in their individual event. Receiving the mentions were: Allison (heptathlon), Sims (shot put and discus), Smith (3000-meter steeplechase), Childers (1500-meter and 5000-meter), Gordon (pole vault), Martin (100-meter and 200-meter) and Bryan (800-meter). Earning Second Team All-Conference were Smith (10000-meter and 5000-meter) and Childers (3000-meter steeplechase).
The Flames added three gold medals on Saturday and concluded the meet with 108 points. Alabama Huntsville (262) and Shorter (234) ran away from the rest of the field to finish first and second, respectively. Mississippi College was fourth with 81 points.
Harold Smith placed first with a time of 3:56.65 in the 1500-meter run. Brandon Raleigh was fifth (4:05.53) and Moises Ponce was eighth (4:06.66).
Smith, Raleigh and Ponce were joined by Alex Carter in the 800-meter run. Smith had Lee's top finish at second (1:54.44). Raleigh was eighth (1:59.23) and Carter was ninth (1:59.40). Ponce crossed the line at 2:00.49 (12
th).
Christian Noble led a contingent of five Flames in the 5000-meter run with a time of 15:26.55. Seth Eagleson was second with a time of 15:31.33. Tucker Hindle finished the race at 16:33.02 (10
th) and Thomas Kelton was right behind in 11
th (16:36.83), while James Guthrie was 17
th (17:50.55).
Justin Brooks bested his own GSC Championship record from last year with a mark of 47.09 in winning the 400-meter dash. He also finished third (21.02) in the 200-meter dash with Josiah Brooks in fourth at 21.19. Josiah added a fourth-place finish in the 100-meter dash with a time of 10.58.
Matthew Wilson and Chase Warren were the Lee representatives in the discus throw. Warren placed seventh with a toss of 34.34 meters and Wilson finished 19
th (24.22 meters).
The men's 4x400-meter relay team finished in third with a time of 3:24.04.
The Flames finished third in the medal count with five gold, two silver and three bronze. Josiah Brooks (triple jump), Christian Noble (3000-meter steeplechase and 5000-meter), Smith (1500-meter) and Justin Brooks (400-meter) earned GSC First Team All-Conference recognition. Smith (800-meter) and Eagleson (5000-meter) made the Second Team All-Conference list.
