LEXINGTON, Va. – The Citadel track and field teams concluded the Southern Conference Indoor Championships on Saturday at the VMI Corps Physical Training Facility. The men's team finished sixth with 23 points, and the women's team finished eighth with eight points. The Bulldogs recorded two school records, three freshman records and 10 top-10 performances in program history.
Jack O'Cain captured the Southern Conference pole vault championship with a school-record and freshman-record clearance of 16-7 1/2. The mark moved him to No. 2 all-time in program history and secured First Team All-Southern Conference honors. O'Cain's victory marked The Citadel's first Southern Conference indoor pole vault championship since Sam Blumer won the title in 2020.
O'Cain said he trusted his preparation going into the event and knew he had the winning height in him when the bar moved up. "Overall, it was a great weekend with the team," O'Cain said. "For my first conference meet, it could not have gone much better. I knew I had a chance to win, and I trusted the work I had put in. When the bar went to 16-7 1/2, I felt like that could be the winning height, and I knew I had it in me to clear it."
"I went out there with confidence, got it on my first attempt and put the pressure on the rest of the field," O'Cain said. "It felt great, and it felt earned. I've dealt with a number of injuries that impacted past seasons, so to get it done this weekend meant a lot and gave me a taste of what I want to feel after every conference meet."
"We had some strong individual performances this weekend, highlighted by Jack's championship vault," head coach
Kris Kut said. "We saw several athletes contribute to our team score and add marks to our record book. There are areas we'll continue to improve, but we had competitors step up at the conference level."
Results
Southern Conference Recognitions
All-Southern Conference
SoCon All-Freshman Team
Men
Women
Men's Highlights
- Frank Pastorino: Broke the freshman record in the weight throw with a personal-best toss of 48-9.5.
- Arthur Parham: Finished ninth in the heptathlon (4,188 points) and set a school heptathlon record in the shot put with a toss of 45-6.25.
- Trey Bartels: Finished seventh in the pole vault at 13-8.25.
- Myer Daniels: Placed eighth in the heptathlon with 4,345 points, setting a freshman record and the No. 2 mark in school history.
- Jaxon Brewer: Finished sixth in the triple jump with a mark of 43-3.75.
- Jordan Chestnut: Placed seventh in the long jump with a leap of 22-2.5.
- Gage Herring: Qualified for the 60-meter hurdles finals but did not compete.
- Dylan Horne: Finished ninth in the shot put finals at 47-6.25.
- 4x400 Relay (Kyan Sapko, Wyatt Carey, Ryder Harbaugh, Demetrius Shine): Finished sixth.
- Distance Medley Relay (Jack O'Cain, Kyan Sapko, Ryder Harbaugh, Carson Diggs): Finished seventh. The relay consists of four legs at distances of 1,200 meters, 400 meters, 800 meters, and 1,600 meters.
Women's Highlights
- Alliann Johnson: Finished seventh in the 60 meters (7.77) and recorded the No. 3 time in school history in the 200 meters (25.27).
- Jadan Dean: Recorded the No. 7 mark in school history in the weight throw with a toss of 49-9.
- Luci Lippelgoos & Rachel Reininger: Tied for the No. 5 spot all-time in the high jump with clearances of 5-0.25.
- Liliana Coe: Jumped 32-3.5 in the triple jump (No. 7 all-time).
- Grier Murphy: Jumped 29-5.5 in the triple jump (No. 9 all-time).
- Cameron Martin: Ran the No. 9 time in school history in the 400 meters (61.09).
- Distance Medley Relay (Abigail Thiessen, DeMarie Washington, Brylee Deering, Caroline McClelland): Finished seventh. The relay consists of four legs at distances of 1,200 meters, 400 meters, 800 meters, and 1,600 meters.
- 4x400 Relay (Cameron Martin, Alliann Johnson, DeMarie Washington, Danielle Williams): Finished eighth.
To stay up to date with The Citadel track & field program, follow the Bulldogs on Twitter and Instagram by searching @CitadelTFXC.
