Photo by: Karen Arnold
Women’s track and field made program history Saturday, capturing its first Conference USA Indoor Championship in Lynchburg.
140.5 points were totaled to hold off host Liberty by 14 points at the Liberty Indoor Track Complex to mark the first CUSA title for a KSU women’s program.
“It’s a really good time to be an Owl,” Director of Track and Field Cale McDaniel said in a statement to KSUOwls.com. “These women came out firing all weekend. We were so clutch when the moments were the biggest… I am so happy these women were able to bring the first ever CUSA title back to the Nest.”
On the men’s side, the Owls scored 159 points to finish second behind Liberty’s 196, falling short of back-to-back indoor titles.
“We got a little too far behind on day one and just couldn’t catch back up,” McDaniel said to KSUOwls.com “Ultimately it falls on me to make sure we can get back to the top very soon… We are .always built around the 4x400m relay so winning both the men’s and women’s on the way out was a fantastic finish to the weekend.”
KSU set the tone early in the 60m hurdles final, scoring 23 points behind a dominant freshman duo of Tickia Sutton and Natalie Harris. Sutton, who was later named CUSA Co-Women’s Freshman of the Meet, won gold with a personal best of 8.37 seconds, with Harris following closely with 8.39, a personal best, and a silver to go with it. Madison Maxey and Hannah Cheek added sixth and seventh place finishes to round out the event scoring.
Emma Sullivan delivered one of the most impressive performances of the meet in the 800m. The senior defended her conference title with a season-best 2:02.89, setting a new meet and facility record while moving to No. 21 nationally this season. Sullivan became the first athlete since 2017-18 to win consecutive indoor 800m titles.
Britney Chatfield secured silver in 2:03.99, with freshman May Humpert adding two points with a seventh-place finish, bringing the KSU total from the 800m to 20 points.
Sullivan later teamed with Chatfield, Eliana Mbadinga and Samiya Wayne to win the 4x400m relay in 3:37.37. This time broke school, meet, and facility records. Mbadinga and Wayne also placed fifth and sixth respectively in the 200m, picking up seven points for the Owls.
Kenadie Singleton added another gold for KSU in the 60m, clocking a school-record 7.35. Wayne placed fifth to contribute additional points.
Madison Seiler took fourth place in the 3K with a time of 9:38.98.
Riley Perlakowski brought the Owls two points with seventh in the one-mile run, clocking 4:53.87.
Senior Kaylee Brown capped her collegiate career with third in the high jump. She cleared the bar at a season-best height of 1.74m (5’8.50″). She marked a season-best of 1.74m (5 ‘8.5″).
In the triple jump, Victoria Joyce claimed bronze with a mark of 12.55m (41’2.25), while Kaylan McConnehead added a point with an eighth place leap with 12.25m (40’2.25″), a season best for her.
On the men’s side, despite falling just short to hosts Liberty, KSU found healthy success across multiple events.
The light on the men’s side was highlighted by a gold-medal performance from Chance Cross in the 60m. Cross clocked 6.56 seconds, earning his second consecutive event win while setting both meet and facility records.
Kenyatta Bennett captured gold in the high jump at 2.12m (6’11.5”), with freshman teammate Gage Voyles close behind who earned silver at the same height.
The 4x400m relay team of Trey Geter, Marion Clark, Eric Young II, and Justin Warner closed the meet with a facility-record 3:09.35 to secure gold for the Owls.
Marion Clark posted a personal-best 47.37 in the 400m to claim bronze and was later named CUSA Men’s Freshman of the Meet after scoring 11 points across multiple events.
Sophomore Rickey Robbins earned silver in the shot put with a throw of 17.25m (56’7.25”), while the rest of the team added key points in the triple jump, distance events, and hurdles to stay within striking distance of Liberty throughout the weekend.
With the conference championships complete, several Owls now turn their attention to qualifying for the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships. Individuals ranked in the top 16 nationally in their respective events alongside the top 12 relay teams will advance to Fayetteville, Arkansas on March 13-14.
KSU will then focus to the outdoor season, opening competition March 20-21 at the Yellow Jacket Invitational at Georgia Tech.
