Men’s and women’s track and field traveled to Gainesville, Florida, to compete in the Pepsi Florida Relays, and split the tournament time also traveling to Raleigh, North Carolina, for the Raleigh Relays. The Bucs had a strong showing in the events.
The first day of events at the Florida Relays took place on Thursday and saw women’s team seniors Kiana Davis (Oiltewah, Tennessee), Lamisha Simmons (Hollywood, Florida) and Starr Graham (Alpharetta, Georgia) shine in the women’s 200-meter dash.
Davis had the shortest time with 24.26, marking that the top time in the Southern Conference. Simmons also ranked at the No. 3 spot in the conference with a time of 24.62, and Graham clocked in at 25.29 in fifth place.
Simmons also found success in the 100-meter hurdles with a sprinting time of 14.01, taking first in the leaderboards and setting a conference standard. Davis ranked second in the conference with a strong performance in the 100-meter dash with a time of 12.19.
For the Raleigh Relays, the men’s team found success. The first day of events saw junior Noah Charles (Johnson City, Tennessee) with a striking performance in the 300-meter steeplechase with a time of 8:57.60. Charles now leads the conference with his finish.
Red-shirt Lindsey Stallworth (Knoxville, Tennessee) also earned a conference worthy event at Raleigh, placing 15th in the women’s outdoor 5K, finishing with a time of 16:21.66.
Sophomore pair Ben Varghese (Kingsort, Tennessee) and Matthew Scarr (Wamberal, Australia) each finished strong in their respective events in Raleigh. Varghese finished 34th in the men’s 5K with a conference lead of 14:11.80. Scarr finished 28th in the men’s 1500-meter along with Varghese and had an end result of 3:50.60, securing second in conference behind Varghese.
“I’m feeling pretty good this season after getting over injuries,” said Scarr.
He hopes to gain a conference medal before the season ends.
The rest of the weekend saw other Bucs ranking in their respective events. Vicki Franse (Clinton, Tennessee) finished 15th in the women’s 400-meter run while freshman Aliyah Hill (Snellville, Georgia) finished 44th.
Next up, the team’s travel to North Carolina to compete in the Western Carolina Meet where they will meet up with other conference foes.
