The Western Carolina University track team has done a great job preparing for outdoor competition as they just wrapped up their indoor season.
Their first outdoor meet was, March 18 and 19 at Georgia Tech and the athletes and their coaches were more than ready. Some of the top performances were in field events, those including high jumper, Brandon Harvey who jumped 6-4.75. Some other performances were Javell and Javon Brown who both had performances of 48-4.5 and 46-5.5.
“We prepared for outdoor all year round and everyone is starting to get comfortable in their races and really applying mechanics again,” said Kayla Smith, member of the women’s track team at WCU.
Sprint and hurdle coach, Greg Lamberth is also confident that WCU track and field team will have success in their outdoor season.
“The outdoor season feels as good as it looks right now. We are missing some key pieces (runners) right now that we’re working on but I’m excited to see the execution at meets,” Lamberth said.
This year indoor season was hard for WCU team. They had a few setbacks because of COVID-19 cases the first week of practice, but as a team they kept battling and finished better than they did in 2021. The men’s team finished 2nd in the indoor season behind Samford University, and the Women’s team finished 3rd behind Samford, and Eastern Tennessee State University.
The last indoor meet for the Catamounts was indoor Southern Conference championships February 26 and 27 at Virginia Military Institution. That ended very well for a lot of athletes on the team. Javell Brown received most outstanding field performance after winning the triple jump and long jump. Javell’s twin brother Javon Brown placed 3rd in the triple jump and 4th in the long jump behind Tyler Rodrigues finishing 3rd in long jump.
This is the first time in years that WCU men’s track program had four athletes competing in the 200-meter dash finals. David Miles Jr made All-Socon in the 200-meter dash, placing 3rd, while Marcus Brown got 5th, Mike Harris placed 7th, and Tyler Manigualt finished 8th.
Some other athletes that made the men’s All-Socon conference were the men’s 4×400 meter relay team, high jumper Brandon Harvey, pole vaulter Charles Cooley, long jumper Tyler Rodriguez and shotput Ryan Eldridge.
Makaila McIntyre won most valuable performance after winning triple jump and long jump, she also finished 2nd place in the 60-meter dash, and in the 4×400 meter relay. Sophomore sprinter Mekyll Robinson made All-Socon for winning the 400-meter dash, while Senior Marissa Blakely got 4th place. The sprint duo also went 2nd and 4th place in the 200-meter dash. The women’s 4×400 meter relay also made All-Socon conference, along with weight thrower Victoria Solheim. Some school records that got broken at this meet were the men’s 3k and 5k by Justin Hayes and the women’s 5k by Kate Mattison.
Additional accomplishments of the teams during the indoor season were:
– Mekyll Robinson broke the school the record for women’s 300-meter dash.
– Davis Miles finished first in the men’s 200-meter dash.
– Zae Smith earned 4th in the 400-meter dash.
– Omar Simpson placed 1st in the men’s 600-meter dash.
