WINSTON SALEM, N.C. – The Anderson University Track & Field teams rounded out the indoor season at the South Atlantic Conference Championships this weekend, finishing fourth on the men's side with 69 total team points and seventh on the women's with 51.
 
"Conference always seems to bring the best out in our athletes." said head coach Caleb Stephenson. "They showed up when it mattered and we walked away from the weekend with quite a bit of hardware and continuing to rewrite the record books."
 
The meet began on Saturday morning with the multi-event athletes. Competing for Anderson for the women were juniors Abby Kwasny (Winston-Salem, N.C.), Ally Macurda (Charlotte, N.C.) and senior Georgia Piper (Dacula, Ga.) in the pentathlon. On the men's side, juniors David Brown (Menomonie, Wis.) and Jordan Gross (Chester, Va.) competed in the heptathlon. Both of the men opened the meet with two massive personal bests in their respective events. Brown finished second in the shot put with a distance of 11.79m for second-place personal best finish, followed by personal record in the high jump after clearing the 1.75m bar. He rounded out day one of the competition of a 60m dash personal best of 7.33. The women also notched two personal bests to open the meet including Piper with a shot-put distance of 8.43m followed by Kwasny in the 60m hurdles, crossing the line with a time of 9.17.
 
In the heptathlon, Brown finished with a score of 4633 points to set a new program record and earn himself a spot on the podium in second place. Gross finished the weekend with a heptathlon career best of 4506 points for a fourth-place finish, just shy of earning a place on the podium in his second season.
 
Day one of the competition saw two silver medals and a bronze for the Trojans. Senior Kennedy Roush (Greer, S.C.) finished second in the women's 5k with a time of 16:52.81, just .03 seconds away from gold. Sophomore Avery Marshall (York, S.C.) also ended the weekend with a silver medal in the women's pole vault after clearing the 3.52m bar. The women's Distance Medley Relay comprised of sophomores Natalie States (Greensboro, N.C.), Colette Dismukes (York, S.C.), Hope Edmunds (Sandy, Utah) and freshman Emory Winter (Brookfield, Wis.) earned themselves a spot on the podium, receiving bronze with a time of 12:18.74.
 
In the men's 400m preliminary round, sophomore Brayden Anderson (Yakima, Wash.) broke the program record with a time of 48.94 to qualify for finals. The men's 5k followed with three Trojans securing personal bests including junior Nathan Smith (Danielsville, Ga.) and senior Spain Vaughan (Greer, S.C.) who also ran the provisional mark for Nationals, crossing the line with a time of 14:20.77 for a seventh-place finish.
 
Qualifying for finals and also posting career bests on the women's side was sophomore Molly Hanlon (Cumming, Ga.) in the mile with a finish of 5:23.81. Freshman Emory Dargan (Columbia, S.C.) finishing with a time of 18:52.86 in the women's 5k for a career best performance. Freshman Nate Powell (Johnson City, Tenn.) boasted a personal best in the men's 800m with a finals qualifying time of 5:53.91. 
 
In the field, senior Lambdin Hardy (Commerce, Ga.) was just shy of a podium appearance after clearing the 4.40m bar, falling behind UVA-Wise who cleared the 4.25m bar in fewer attempts. Freshman Ryan Lee (Honea Path, S.C.) cleared the 4.25m bar for a personal best finish. In the women's weight throw, freshman Grace Zelenka (Jacksonville, Fla.) notched a career best with a toss of 10.84m.
 
The Trojans posted a handful of incredible performances during the finals on day two with senior Emma Whitaker (Inman, S.C.) earning gold on the podium for the women's 800 with a school record time of 2:12.63. Kennedy Roush also earned gold with a school record performance of 9:47.15 in the women's 3k. Rounding out the Trojans' gold medal performances was the men's Distance Medley Relay team comprised of junior Sean McAdams (Greenville, S.C.), sophomore Johnny McCoy (Easley, S.C.), freshman Harrison Knight (Greenville, S.C.) and senior Joey Tindale (Rock Hill, S.C.). The team posted a time of 10:11.83 to earn gold on the podium. Tindale also earned a spot on the podium after finishing second for a silver medal with a time of 4:12.90 in the men's mile.
 
The Black and Gold found themselves three more program records to round out the competition. The men's 4x400m relay team comprised of sophomore Brayden Anderson, freshman Harrison Knight, sophomore Will Wright (Sumter, S.C.) and junior Cullen Ussery (Kershaw, S.C.) broke Anderson's indoor relay record with a team time of 3:20.25. Freshman Gavin Malloy (Harrisburg, N.C.) passed the men's 800m indoor record, crossing the line 5th with a time of 1:51.92 to secure a provisional mark for Nationals. Freshman Avery Butler (Seneca, S.C.) also shattered a program record with a distance of 14.37m in the men's shot put.
 
In addition to the standout performances on day two, seven Trojans also recorded a new personal best in their respective events, five of which took place during the men and women's 3k. Sophomore Will Cronin (Lexington, S.C.) and freshman Jack Barett (Greenville, S.C.) each finished with a personal best, crossing the line with times of 8:24.38 and 8:41.71 respectively. Hope Edmunds, sophomore Natalie States (Greensboro, N.C.) and sophomore Molly Hanlon (Cumming, Ga.) each posted a career best 3k with times of 10:20.80, 10:22.66, and 10:49.50 respectively. In the field, junior Chase Brightharp (Trenton, S.C.) threw 14.15m in the men's shot put for a personal best to break the record alongside Butler. Junior Maggie Long (Mt. Pleasant, S.C.) finished the weekend with a triple jump career best of 10.95m.
 
A full list of results from the weekend can be found here.
 
"Super proud of these kids and can't wait to keep building into outdoor season!" added Stephenson.
 
The Black and Gold take a two-week break before kicking off the 2026 outdoor season at the 49er Classic hosted by UNC Charlotte March 26-28.