Men's Track & Field 2/24/2025 5:40:00 PM

Valkyries Hold Off Trojans, Claim First Conference Title In Program History

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Behind a stellar second day at the 2025 Conference Carolinas Indoor Track & Field Championships, the Converse University men's track & field team took home the team title, the second conference title in any men's sport in Converse history. With the meet coming down to the last event, the Valkyries fended off the Mount Olive Trojans, who went home runners-up, 130-127.

Head coach Brandon Morton was named the Conference Carolinas men's indoor track & field Coach of the Year. Morton was also named the women's indoor Coach of the Year by Conference Carolinas and USTFCCA last season.

Brandon Morton receives his 2025 Men's Indoor Coach of the Year Award — Coach Morton receives his Coach of the Year Award

Converse entered the day tied with Mount Olive for second place in the standings with 32 points. UNC Pembroke led both the Valkyries and Trojans by 21 points heading into Monday.

Meet Notes:

Sophomore Omarion Belton finished fifth in the triple jump, one of the first events of the day. With his performance, Belton scored the Valkyries four points.
Sophomore Alain Flores kicked off Monday's track events by taking first place in the mile, narrowly winning with a time of 4:19.00, beating senior Norman Junker of UNC Pembroke by 0.01 seconds.
Flores took home silver in the 3000 meters
Freshman Dre'Kevan Thomas followed up the mile with a victory in the 60 meter hurdles with a time of 8.10. Sophomore Nick Tibolla secured second with a time of 8.14, netting Converse 18 points in the event.
With a quartet of Valkyries making up half of the field, graduate student Zephaniah Cox Jr. took home gold in the 60 meters with a time of 6.744 and was followed by sophomore Dorian Bomar with a time of 6.748. Senior Gavin McFadden finished just off of the podium with a time of 6.84. Sophomore Devron Davis finished sixth with a time of 6.89. With those four finishes, Converse gained 26 points from the event.
Later in the day, the same four Valkyries composed half of the eight finalists in the 200 meters. McFadden took silver with a 21.69 and Davis rounded out the podium finishers with a 21.92. Bomar finished just off the podium with a time of 21.97 and Cox Jr. rounded out the Valkyries' finishes in sixth with a 22.23. Converse secured 22 points from the event.
Freshman Jacob Wren scored the Valkyries three points with a sixth-place finish in the 800 meters. He ran an 8:34.79, while the gold medalist, junior Ronan O'Neill of Southern Wesleyan beat the previous meet record by almost three seconds. Flores bested third place by nearly nine seconds.
The 4x400 relay rounded out the meet in heat three side-by-side with Mount Olive. Converse sat in first with 124 points. Mount Olive was second with 117 points, meaning any finish above sixth would ensure the Valkyries' meet victory regardless of the Trojans finish. Converse finished two spots ahead of what they needed, taking home bronze in the event with a time of 3:20.96. More importantly, they secured the team's first-ever conference title and the second men's conference title in school history.