Rhodes' men and women each claimed a conference title at the SAA Track & Field Championships hosted by Sewanee. It was the 11
th consecutive conference championship for the women, who scored 194 points. Centre College finished second with 127.5 points, followed by Birmingham Southern University (118 points). The men finished with 172 points, securing their third title since 2013. Birmingham Southern finished second with 135 points, with Centre College claiming third (128 points). The Lynx captured 12 individual titles, in addition to 36 all-conference performances.
"The key to our women's success this season was depth in all three areas – distance, sprint, and field events", said head coach
Robert Shankman. "Earlier in the year, we were concerned about our ability to repeat as conference champions, as we graduated several talented athletes from last year's squad. But everyone bought fully into our goals and stepped up to fill-in for those missing pieces."
The Lynx dominated the distance and middle-distance races by taking two of the top three spots in the 800, 1500, 5000, and 10000 meter races. Senior
Ashley Litoff gave Rhodes a strong start to the meet by winning the 10000 meter run (38:00.16) on day one, followed by a second-place finish in the 5000 (17:56) and a fourth-place finish in the 1500 meter run (4:57) on day two. Close behind was senior
Reagan Alley, who also earned all-conference honors with third-place finishes in both the 10000 (38:28) and 5000 (18:31). Senior
Ellery Hayden also capped off a tremendous career, finishing third in the 3000 steeplechase (11:14) and then doubling back on day two to capture a fourth-place finish in the 5000 (18:33). Sophomore
Lauren Roberts also had a solid meet, finishing fifth in the steeplechase (11:44), followed by a ninth-place finish in the 5000 (18:55) on day two.
In the middle distances, Lynx runners captured four of the top six spots in the 1500-meter run.
Abby Watkins finished third for the Lynx in 4:55, followed by Litoff, Freshmen
Maryella Cohn (4:59), and Hayden. Watkins doubled back after a short recovery to win the 800 in 2:20.31, followed closely by sophomore
Elise Moix (3rd place; 2:21.55).
Lynx sprinters also fared well, earning all-conference accolades in the 100, 200, 400 and 400 hurdles. After battling a serious injury throughout the indoor season, senior All-American sprinter
Alice Fugate was able to regain her previous form, earning all-conference honors in the 100 (3
rd; 12.49) and 200 (3
rd; 25.40). Sophomores
Leda St Cyr and Sara Kate Capel ran a difficult double, placing third and fourth in the open 400 (57.68 and 59.79), and then taking the top two spots in the 400 hurdles (1:03.46 and 1:04.88). The Lynx also advanced three athletes to the finals of the 100 meter high hurdles, finishing fifth (Capel, 15.80), sixth (
Laurel Sharp, 16.07) and eighth (
Jessie Ustick, 16.64).
In addition, Rhodes' 4x100 relay team of Sharp, Fugate, Capel and freshmen
Julia Bergquist finished second in a time of 49.53, while the team of Sharp, Fugate, Capel, and St Cyr won the 4x400 relay in 3:59.98.
In the field events, Sarah Kate Capel won the high jump with a leap of 5'5 ¾", with Bergquist placing fourth at 5'1 ¾". Capel also finished fourth in the long jump (17' ¾"), while senior
Jessie Ustick jumped a personal best of 34'8" in the triple jump to earn third place and all-conference honors. In the throws, sophomore Logan Griffiin won the hammer with a personal best of 47.29 meters.
For the men, Rhodes' dominance in the distance events proved to be the difference. On day one, the Lynx earned a clean sweep in the 10000 meter run, taking the top five spots and earning 33 points. Juniors
Spencer Fields and
Reece Stevens, along with senior
Ryan Phillips and sophomore Benji Freeman all ran 31:00 for the event, followed by junior
Adam Hearn in 33:24. In the first running event of day two, the same group, along with sophomore
Dominic Voehler took five of the top six spots in the 5000 meter run to add 32 points. Fields finished first in 15:27, followed by Phillips (2
nd, 15:28), Voehler (3
rd, 15:30), Stevens (4
th, 15:32) and Freeman (6
th, 15:48).
Later in the day, the Lynx took three of the top four spots in the 1500 meter run. Sophomore
Toler Freyaldenhoven won the event in 3:56.54. Fields took third in 4:08.70, followed by Hearn (4
th, 4:11), and Stevens (7
th, 4:16.77).
In just three events (10000, 5000, and 1500), Rhodes scored 88 points, nearly two-thirds of the point production to win the meet.
But it was several outstanding individual performances in the jumps and throws that clinched the team title for the Lynx. Senior
Renn Eason scored 28 points, winning the high jump (6'8") and the triple jump (47'4"), as well as placing second in the long jump (22'7"). In the pole vault, freshman
Jack Bolton finished fifth with a jump of 13'.
In the throws,
Tej Suber had an outstanding day in the hammer, placing second and establishing a new school record of 181'3". In addition, Suber finished third in the discus (139') followed closely by teammate
Keith Harrison (4
th, 125'5").
"I could not be more proud of a team," said Shankman. "We did it the hard way, counting on so many distance athletes (Spencer, Ryan, Toler, Dom, and others) to double and triple. In addition, we knew that Renn and Tej would need to have a strong meet in the jumps and throws. Also, so many others contributed by scrapping together points in every event, as well as having an amazing attitude. It was a great team effort."
SAA Track & Field Championships – Team Scores
Men:
Rhodes College 172 points
Birmingham Southern 135
Centre 128
Berry 112
Hendrix 101
Oglethorpe 69
Millsaps 37
Sewanee 23
Women:
Rhodes College 194
Centre 127.5
Birmingham Southern 118
Hendrix 101
Millsaps 77
Berry 71
Oglethorpe 61.5
Sewanee 30
