CULLOWHEE, N.C. - Jordan White was named the Men's Most Outstanding Athlete of the meet, while Greg Henderson won both the 100 and 200-meter dashes to help the VMI men's track and field team to a runner-up finish at the Southern Conference Outdoor Championships, which concluded Friday in Cullowhee, N.C.
White was named the Men's Athlete of the Meet after not only winning the hammer Thursday, but following it up Friday with a third-place finish in the shot put (16.21 M/53'2 1/4") and a runner-up result in the discus (47.49 M/155'10"). White is the first Keydet field athlete to win the top conference honor available outdoors since current Associate Head Coach Garrett Brickner did it in the Big South in 2005.
Henderson, meanwhile, swept the 100 and 200 in impressive fashion. He won the 100 in 10.58, prevailing on a lean at the line, and then outdueled favorite Henry Kiedy of Western Carolina to take the 200 in 21.71. He also anchored the runner-up 4X100-meter relay team to a second-place finish.
With the aforementioned victories, Henderson is the first Keydet since 2004 to sweep both the 100 and 200 at a conference championship. In addition, the 10.58 100 time is the eighth-fastest in school history.
As a team, the Keydets amassed 152 points on the day to finish 51 clear of third-place Samford. The runner-up result was VMI's best conference finish at any meet - indoor or outdoor - since finishing second at the 2011 Big South Indoor Championships.
ETSU was fourth with 98 points, while Furman (94) and The Citadel (77) rounded out the top six. Western Carolina scored 245 points to win the meet, while Wofford (37) and UNCG (8) rounded out the team standings.
Other winners on the day included Joel Hoisington, who won the shot put with an impressive 17.18 meter (56'4 1/2") heave. It was the second-best toss in school history and he is now ranked 49th in the East Region, and accordingly, is in position for a possible NCAA Preliminary Berth.
Hoisington also finished eighth in the discus (43.28 M/142'0"), while White was third and Grant Sanchez was seventh in the shot (14.73 M/48'4") as well.
Avery Martin won the first individual conference title of his career, prevailing in the 800 in 1:51.43. Teammate Josh Willard was eighth in 1:54.90, and Martin came back to finish fifth in the 1,500 as well (3:54.51). Jay Broom was eighth in that event (3:55.72) and earned all-freshman honors.
VMI's other victor on the day came in the 110-meter hurdles, where Davon Guerrier set a new personal best in victory, crossing the stripe in 14.35 seconds. Desmond Weinberg-Jones was sixth (15.44) and Brian Donna was seventh (15.51). Donna also finished seventh in the 400 hurdles (56.32), but there, it was Weinberg-Jones on the podium with a third-place, 53.71 second effort.
The Keydets scored twice in both the 400-meters and the decathlon as well. Deondre Anderson finished third in the 400 with a time of 48.32 seconds, while Andrew Gould was sixth in 49.36. The decathlon saw Levi Whitt place fourth and earn all-freshman honors with 5,778 points, while Tyler Robinson was eighth (4,955).
Finally, Quan Myers finished fifth in the triple jump (13.43 M/44'0 3/4") and the Keydets (Weinberg-Jones, Anderson, Gould, Tyriuq Trotman) were fourth in the 4X400-meter relay. That quartet timed in at 3:19.53.
"No two-day meets go exactly as planned, but our athletes just kept competing," said VMI head coach Darrin Webb. "It was very exciting for the men to finish second, especially by a wide margin. Though we had to make tough decisions to get under our conference-imposed 28-person limit on the travel roster, I am very pleased with the results. We scored in every event we entered, save a tough 5K. We chose to not enter two events in order to allocate those roster spots elsewhere, and I'm proud of the job my staff did to help put that plan in place. It was amazing to see the performances today, especially by Jordan White and Greg Henderson, and I'm proud of the way our teams competed at this meet."
VMI track and field will now await the announcement of qualifiers for the NCAA Preliminary Round, which will be announced in the next several days.
Men's results – Day 2
1. Western Carolina – 245 points
2. VMI – 152
2. Samford – 101
3. ETSU – 98
5. Furman – 94
6. The Citadel – 77
7. Wofford – 37
8. UNCG – 8
Men's Most Outstanding Athlete
Jordan White, VMI
Men's All-Freshman – Day 2
Decathlon
Conrad Heinrich, Wofford
Draven Crist, Western Carolina
Levi Whitt, VMI
Men's shot put
Jaylan Reid, Furman
Ja'lon Williams, The Citadel
Longinus Nnodim, Wofford
Men's 1,500-meter run
Ryan Adams, Furman
Jay Broom, VMI
Owen Bailey, Samford
Men's high jump
Tyrie Adams, Western Carolina
Jordan Scott, ETSU
Khalil Jackson, Western Carolina
Men's 110-meter hurdles
Tyler Houston, ETSU
Devyn Montel Jones, Western Carolina
Brian Donna, VMI
Men's 400-meter dash
Deondre Anderson, VMI
Tyler Jackson, The Citadel
Tyriuq Trotman, VMI
Men's 100-meter dash
Josiah Johnson, The Citadel
Louis Lawrence, The Citadel
Josh Little, Western Carolina
Men's 800-meter run
Joe Harbacevich, Wofford
Caleb Albrecht, Western Carolina
Ryan Adams, Furman
Men's 400-meter hurdles
Dylan Andrade, Western Carolina
Devyn Montel Jones, Western Carolina
Brian Donna, VMI
Men's 200-meter dash
Josiah Johnson, The Citadel
Josh Little, Western Carolina
Palmer Dupree, UNCG
Men's triple jump
Jamie Brown, Western Carolina
Omar Wingo, Wofford
Quan Myers, VMI
Men's 5,000-meter run
Aaron Templeton, Furman
Frank Lara, Furman
Ben Bryant, Samford
Men's discus
Ja'lon Williams, The Citadel
Ben Johnson, ETSU
Dalton Sullivan, Wofford
