Women's Track & Field 4/29/2023 10:59:00 PM

Women’s Track and Field Finishes Runner Up at Conference Carolina Championships, Spijker Named Conference Carolinas Freshman of the Year

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. – The Converse University women's track and field team finished second overall at the Conference Carolina Outdoor Championships this weekend, while the men's track and field team placed 10^th overall.

For the women's team their 127 total points tallied was the highest point total in school history and their runner-up finish was their best finish ever at the outdoor championships. Ruth Spijker won the Conference Carolinas Event Championships in the 800-meter and 1500-meter events. Spijker's two championships helped her sweep the Freshman of the Year Award after she earned the honor during the indoor season.

Women's Notables:

Spijker finished first in the 800-meter event with a time of 2:15.97 and followed it up with a championship in the 1500-meter event. In the second event of the afternoon, the freshman finished the event in a time of 4:52.84.
Phoebe Myers won the 100-meter hurdles event with a time of 14.15 seconds. Myers' time was also an NCAA provisional mark this season. In the high jump event, Myers placed second overall with a leap of 1.54 meters.
Jordan Brown won the high jump competition and set a new school record in the process with a leap of 1.65 meters (5.5 feet).
Kamille Dixon rounded out the Valkyries event championships with a win in the 3,000-meter steeplechase event on night one. Dixon finished the event with a time of 11:41.16 and beat her nearest competitor by 17 seconds.
Eseose Okoduwa set a pair of school records on Saturday afternoon on her way to a pair of podium finishes in the 100 and 200-meter events. In the 200-meter event, Okoduwa finished second with a time of 24.60 and in the 100-meter event, Okoduwa placed third with a time of 11.73 seconds. Okoduwa's 100-meter time is also an NCAA provisional mark.
In the 10,000-meter run, freshman Anna-Fidelia Rusing finished second with a time of 41:26.98. Sophomore Ashley Sosa finished third in the event with a time of 41.49.74.
The Valkyries 4x100 meter relay team of Aaliyah Morgan, Krishayla Boyd, Madison Griffin and Okoduwa finished third with a time of 47.08 seconds.
Boyd also finished eighth overall in the 100-meter dash (12.19 seconds) and seventh overall in the 200-meter dash (25.41 seconds). Shanyia Grey finished seventh in the 400-meter dash (58.65 seconds), while Bayley Robinson finished fifth in the 800-meter event (2:23.46).
Dixon missed her second podium of the weekend with a fourth-place finish in the 1500-meter event (5:03.49). Rusing finished seventh in the 5,000-meter event (19:56.86) and D'Asia Thomas finished fifth in the 100-meter hurdles event (15.02 seconds).
The 4x400 relay team of Boyd, Latavia Bracey, Okoduwa and Grey just missed the podium with a fourth-place finish in the event.
In the women's triple jump, Mackenzie Whiteside placed sixth with a leap of 11.21 meters, while Nashayla Warren finished eighth overall with a jump of 11.13 meters.
In the women's shot put and hammer throw, Bella Martin placed eighth in both events. Martin also picked up a 10^th place finish in the discus throw.

Men's Notables:

Gavin McFadden finished second in the 100-meter dash with a time of 10.55 seconds. McFadden's mark was an NCAA provisional time, his preliminary time of 10.40 seconds in the event set a new school record.
Kaden Gamble set a new school record and finished third overall in the men's long jump event. Gamble finished the event with a leap of 6.87-meters.
In the 200-meter event, McFadden finished sixth overall with a time of 22.02 seconds. Gerrard Donald placed fifth in the 100-meter event with a time of 10.80 seconds.
In the 110-meter hurdles preliminary round, Donald Medley set a new school record with a time of 15.94 seconds.
In the 3,000-meter steeplechase event, Luis Rios Brena finished 10^th with a time of 10:15.04.
The 4x100 relay team of Donald, McFadden, Kaden Gamble and Ryan Glenn just missed a spot on the podium with a fourth-place finish (42.08 seconds).