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Men's Track and Field

Men’s Track off to great start at SoCon Outdoor Championship

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The VMI men's track and field team is off to a great start to the 2025 Southern Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championship with several All-Conference finishes and personal bests Monday at Shauna Yelton Field at the Samford Track and Soccer Stadium.
 
SoCon Day 1 Results – Monday, May 12
 
All-Conference Honors
Senior Keyandre Midgett won the long jump for a second consecutive outdoor season with a season-best distance of 7.29 meters, marking his fourth long jump individual title the past two years between the 2024 and 2025 indoor and outdoor seasons. 

Sophomore Zachary Denton also earned All-Conference honors for the event by placing second close behind Midgett at 7.09 meters, also a season-best mark.
 
Sophomore Cameron Thomas earned All-Conference honors in the pole vault by placing second overall at a height of 4.85 meters.
 
Finals Qualifiers
*Senior Nick Brown placed third in the 400m preliminaries with a season-best time of 48.18 seconds to qualify for the final round slated for Tuesday at 11:50 a.m.
*Senior Xander Topos came in sixth in the 110m hurdles prelims in a season-best time of 14.90 seconds to qualify for the final round Tuesday at 11:30 a.m.
*By placing seventh in the 800 meter, Ben Hagerich qualified for the final round with a time of 1:53.31. The final round is set for approximately 12:11 p.m. Tuesday
*Freshman Isaac Osouna earned a PR in the 400m hurdles prelims in 57.57 seconds to qualify for the finals Tuesday at 12:28 p.m.
*Fellow freshman Kevin Koumondji came in eighth in the 100m prelims with a PR time of 10.86 seconds to qualify for the final Tuesday at 12 p.m.
 
Rye Guy
After five events, freshman Rye Jackson is going strong in the decathlon after placing second in the 400m dash and fourth in the 100m dash. His time of 49.54 seconds in the 400m was just four hundredths of a second behind Samford's Garner Ezell. Jackson came in fifth in the high jump at 1.77m and seventh in the long jump at 5.95 meters while finishing 10th out of 11 competitors in the shot put at 8.89 meters. He will compete in the latter five events Tuesday morning.
 
Great Performances
*Colin Crenshaw earned a PR in the 3000m steeple in 9:56 for third place
*Football transplant Destin Moore came in 11th in the 100m in 11.06 just ahead of senior Jeremiah Wilks' time of 11.07
*Senior Patrick Kiernan logged a PR time of 33:47.32 for 12th place in the 10,000-meter run
 
The SoCon Championships resume Tuesday at 9 a.m. with the multis. Day two will air on ESPN+.  
  
Men's results – Day 1 
1. Furman – 49 points 
2. Western Carolina – 48  
3. Samford – 45 
T-4. VMI – 27  
T-4. The Citadel – 27  
6. ETSU – 26  
  
Women's results – Day 1 
1. Samford – 67 points 
2. Wofford – 40  
3. ETSU – 38.5 
4. Western Carolina – 25.5 
5. Furman – 24  
6. The Citadel – 20  
  
Day 1 champions 
Men: Hammer throw Ridge Dowe, The Citadel (51.94m); long jump Keyandre Midgett, VMI (7.29m); pole vault Jed Sisco, Samford (5.00m); javelin Kyle Kaufelds, Samford (63.06m); 3,000-meter steeplechase Carson Williams, Furman (8:39.87*); 10,000-meter run Nicholas Goldstein, Furman (31:03.55) 
 
Women: Hammer throw Danni Emmen, Wofford (50.0m); long jump Sherika Christie, Wofford (6.07m); pole vault Allison Shingleton, ETSU (3.70m); javelin Erin Long, Samford (48.99m); 3,000-meter steeplechase Nicole Matysik, Furman (10:43.37); 10,000-meter run Emma Jones, Furman (37:29.79)  
 
*Meet record 
  
Men's All-Freshman – Day 1 
Men's hammer throw 
Bryce Davis, Samford  
Colston Thomas, Wofford 
Trez Fouch, Western Carolina 
 
Men's long jump 
Elijah Cochran, Western Carolina 
Max Smydra, ETSU  
Jay Woodard, The Citadel 
  
Men's pole vault 
Jake Cannon, ETSU  
Joey Swick, Wofford 
  
Men's javelin 
Grant Winegar, ETSU 
  
Men's 3,000-meter steeplechase 
Andrew York, Wofford 
  
Men's 10,000-meter run 
Rives Boltwood, Furman  
Arthur Langley, Samford  
Trevor Coggin, Furman 
  
Women's All-Freshman – Day 1 
Women's hammer throw 
Lexie Durban, Western Carolina  
Emmie Finley, Western Carolina 
Emma Johnson, ETSU  
 
Women's long jump 
Octavia Massena, Western Carolina 
Jayla Simmons, Mercer  
Naomi Pierce, Mercer 
  
Women's pole vault 
Allison Shingleton, ETSU  
Emerson Simpson, Samford 
Olivia Burroughs, Wofford 
  
Women's javelin 
Lexie Durban, Western Carolina 
Emmie Finley, Western Carolina 
Emma Johnson, ETSU  
  
Women's 3,000-meter steeplechase 
Deena Lutdke, ETSU  
Abbie Kallbreier, Mercer 
Paula Sandoval, Mercer 
  
Women's 10,000-meter run 
Emma Thweatt, Chattanooga 
 
 
 





 
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Players Mentioned

Nick Brown

Nick Brown

Sprints/Relays
Senior
Colin Crenshaw

Colin Crenshaw

Distance
Sophomore
Zachary Denton

Zachary Denton

Sprints
Sophomore
Ben Hagerich

Ben Hagerich

Distance
Junior
Patrick Kiernan

Patrick Kiernan

Distance
Senior
Keyandre Midgett

Keyandre Midgett

Hurdles-Jumps-Sprints
Redshirt Senior
Cameron Thomas

Cameron Thomas

Pole Vault
Sophomore
Xander Topos

Xander Topos

Hurdles/Relays
Senior
Jeremiah Wilks

Jeremiah Wilks

Sprints/Relays
Senior
Rye Jackson

Rye Jackson

Distance
Freshman

Players Mentioned

Nick Brown

Nick Brown

Senior
Sprints/Relays
Colin Crenshaw

Colin Crenshaw

Sophomore
Distance
Zachary Denton

Zachary Denton

Sophomore
Sprints
Ben Hagerich

Ben Hagerich

Junior
Distance
Patrick Kiernan

Patrick Kiernan

Senior
Distance
Keyandre Midgett

Keyandre Midgett

Redshirt Senior
Hurdles-Jumps-Sprints
Cameron Thomas

Cameron Thomas

Sophomore
Pole Vault
Xander Topos

Xander Topos

Senior
Hurdles/Relays
Jeremiah Wilks

Jeremiah Wilks

Senior
Sprints/Relays
Rye Jackson

Rye Jackson

Freshman
Distance