Lions selected eighth in SAC preseason poll

ROCK HILL, S.C. (TheSAC.com) – Queens has been picked to win the 2018 South Atlantic Conference Women's Outdoor Track & Field Championship, the League announced today.  The Royals picked up nine first place votes and received 116 points from the League's head coaches.

Wingate placed second in the poll with two first place vote and 102 points.  Lenoir-Rhyne took the No. 3 spot with 90 points, while Coker came in fourth with 80 points. Anderson rounded out the top five with 77 points.

Carson-Newman landed at the No. 6 spot with 75 points and at No. 7 was Lincoln Memorial with 52 points.  Mars Hill earned 46 points to come in at No. 8, while Tusculum finished at No. 9 with 36 points.  Catawba picked up 30 points to rank No. 10 and Newberry rounded out the poll with 18 points.

The 2018 South Atlantic Conference Outdoor Track and Field season gets underway this weekend with many of the SAC institutions heading to the UNCC 49er Classic. The 2018 SAC Outdoor Track and Field Championships will take place on April 19-20 at the Irwin Belk Complex in Charlotte, N.C.

Below is a look at the top athletes from each member institution.  

Anderson

Distance: Olivia Evans – Evans placed third in the 3,000m and 5,000m at the 2017 SAC Indoor Championship.

Carson-Newman

Sprints: Tia Davis - Davis collected two Athlete of the Week awards from the conference during the 2017-18 season. The freshman broke school records in the 60-meter and 200-meter dashes in the opening weekend, and proceeded to break her own record two more times during the campaign in both events. Davis earned a spot in the 60-meter final during the indoor SAC Track & Field championships, notching a seventh-place finish at 7.91 seconds.

Distance: Bekah White - White set personal best runs multiple times during the 2017-18 year in the 3000-meter and 5000-meter runs. 

Field: Tori Gaul / Samantha Gudger - Gaul posted season high 3.72-meter jump in the pole vault narrowly missing out on a trip to nationals for C-N. She posted a first-place finish during the league indoor championships. Gudger is a dual-threat for C-N in both the long jump and high jump, also just missing out on Pittsburg, Kan. following the indoor season. Season-best jumps at (1.65m, high jump) and (5.72m, long jump). 

Coker

Distance: Darroneshia Lott- Defined as the most-decorated runner in Coker history. Most recently finished fourth at the NCAA Division II Indoor National Championships (2:08.81), with a preliminary race time of 2:08.74. Lott is an All-American in Indoor / Outdoor Track alongside Cross Country. Lott also owns the top mile times for indoor at 5:22.28. In Outdoor, Lott placed fourth in last-season's NCAA Division II National Championship running a school record time of 2:07.40. Additionally, fastest program time in the outdoor mile in 5:16.39.

Sprints: Noelia Leake- Coker's senior sprints runner, coming off of an individual title at the UNCW Seahawk Invitational in the 100m outdoor (12.00), while tying her own school record for the fastest time. Leake also owns the fastest times in the indoor 55m & 60m dashes (7.43 / 7.70) Leake secured a top podium at the SAC Indoor Championships in the 200m, with a time, and school record of 25.74.

Field: Charity Snelling- Coker's record holder in the outdoor high jump at 5' 5.75", triple jump at 37' 6.5" placing third at the SAC Indoor Championships in 2018, and Coker indoor high jump record at 5' 3"

Lenoir-Rhyne

Field: Haylea Salamon - Sat out last season due to injury but was the 2015 and 2016 South Atlantic Conference Women's Co-Field Athlete of the Year … Also named the 2015 SAC Women's Freshman of the Year … The outdoor league champion in the discus in both 2015 and 2016.

Field: Autumn Drayton – Won the indoor conference championship in the shot put … The 2017 SAC Women's Freshman of the Year … Won the discus at the 2017 league outdoor championships.

Lincoln Memorial

Sprints:  Jordan Crawford – Finished 8^th last year in the women's 400m dash, where she holds the school record.

Distance: Tabea Kandlbauer – Top distance runner, who will expand into the steeple this season. Finished with All-region accolades during the cross country season.

Field: Karen Robinson – School record holder in the triple jump. She placed third at this year's indoor conference championships, as well as 8^th at last year's outdoor championships

Mars Hill

Field: Shahnika Williams - All-Region in the Triple Jump

Field: Tiffany Holloway - All-Region in the Shot Put

Newberry

Field: D'arion Johnston - One of Newberry's top horizontal jumps athletes. D'arion will look to improve upon her marks as she heads into outdoor season, with the probability of hitting an NCAA provisional mark.

Field: Gari Forehand - An up and coming freshman in the throws. Gari has seen exponential growth in her training and competition, we are excited to see how outdoor season unfolds for her.

Queens

Distance: Hannah Wolkenhauer – She was named SAC Women's Indoor Track Athlete of the Year after winning the conference championship in the 3,000 meters and 5,000 meters. At Indoor NCAAs, Wolkenhauer finished 11th in the one-mile run to earn Second-Team All-American Honors.

Field: Dani Konopelski - At 2017 NCAA Outdoor Championships, Konopelski finished in second place in the javelin competition to earn First-Team All-American honors. She also won the South Atlantic Conference Championship in the javelin in the 2017 spring season.

Tusculum

Sprints: Jayla Lewis - Finished 13^th in the finals of the 4x400 at the ETSU Track & Field Invitational (4:32.15).

Distance: Nicole McMillen - Won both the 5,000m and DMR at the Dunamis Super Meet; Finished 3^rd in the mile at the 2018 SAC Indoor Championship; Placed 4^th in the 5,000m at the SAC Indoor Championship.

Field: I'Keriah Day - 17^th in the long jump at the SAC Indoor Championship (4.74m).

Wingate

Sprints: Justice Reeves - Reeves was a two-time All-Southeast Region performer during the indoor season. She was honored in the 60 meter dash and the 200 meter dash. Reeves was the South Atlantic Conference indoor champion in the 200 meter dash (25.53), while finishing second in the 60 meter dash (7.62). In 2017, Reeves was All-Southeast Region (outdoor) in the 4x100 meter relay. Wingate won the SAC 4x100 meter relay last spring.

Distance: Juliet Salgueiro - Salgueiro helped Wingate finish second in the SAC indoor DMR, running the anchor leg as the Bulldogs posted a time of 13:04.92. She was All-SAC first team in cross country during the fall. Salgueiro's fastest indoor mile last winter was a 5:21.64 at February's Camel City Invitational.

Field: Vanisha Wilshire - Wilshire won two events and finished second in another on her way to earning Field Athlete of the Year honors in the inaugural SAC indoor track and field championship meet. She won the high jump (1.71 meters) and the triple jump (11.55 meters) while taking the silver medal in the long jump (5.54 meters). A three-time high jump All-American, Wilshire was named the Southeast Region Field Athlete of the Year in February.

2018 Women's Outdoor Track and Field Preseason Poll