The Southern Miss track and field teams traveled to Charlotte, North Carolina to compete in the Conference USA outdoor championships held from May 9-12. Seven Golden Eagles walked away champions in their events.
“We had a very good Championship meet,” head coach Jon Stuart said. “I was very proud of the way our kids competed; they competed as hard as they could for five days, and when you come away with seven champions, that’s a pretty good result.”
In the women’s contests sophomore Callie Jones finished the heptathlon with 5,261 points earning the gold medal. Jones also placed first in the javelin with a mark of 51.05.
Jones also placed third in open javelin with a mark of 47.13m.
Tournament highest scorer senior Danisha Jones placed first in the discus with a mark of 51.75m and second in the shot put with a mark of 14.85. Jones also finished fourth in the hammer throw with a mark of 54.07m. Other medalists from the women’s team include senior Rian Robinson with a silver medal in the 400m sprints and junior Monika Gebarzewska with a bronze medal in the 300m steeplechase.
For the men’s team, junior Caleb Parker also earned two gold medals. Parker finished the high jump with a height of 2.11m and won the 110m hurdles with a time of 13.82 in the finals. Senior McKinely West also placed first in the 100m dash with a time of 10.27 and the 200m sprints with a time of 20.61.
Senior John Warren brought home another gold medal for the Golden Eagles in the triple jump with a mark of 16.01m. Warren also placed second in the long jump with a mark of 7.55m. Additional medals for the men’s team came from junior Eric Washington with a bronze medal in the long jump. The 4x100m relay team of West, Parker, Chedlin Sagesse and Trey Johnson also earned a bronze medal for the Golden Eagles.
The men’s team finished with 93 points and the women’s team finishing with 77 points. Both Golden Eagles teams placed fifth overall with Charlotte winning both the men’s and women’s team championships.
The Golden Eagles who placed high enough in their respective events will advance to the NCAA East Regionals.
All photos by Michael Sandoz.
