Concord, NC - While they were not able to win what would've been a remarkable fourth consecutive championship, the Southern Virginia University men's track and field teams still produced a weekend of great success at the USA South Outdoor Track and Field Championships.
The venue was the same as the women's championship, on a state of the art mondo track surface. Over the course of the two day meet, the Knights collected six first place finishes and several personal bests along the way. Thanks to three event wins, Dylan May Track Athlete of the Meet for the first time in his storied career.
In the field events, Nolan Opp continued his dominance in the javelin throw by winning the event for the second year in a row. His 10 points on the first day were crucial as his mark of 56.23m (184' 6) was far and away the best in the field. In the triple jump, Damarion Bonds broke his own program record on his first attempt of the meet with a distance of 13.59m (44' 7).
In the pole vault, the Knights swept the top four places and were led by McCormick Johnson as his clearance at 4.60m (15' 1) would stand as the winning mark. Alex Silvester, Parker Arnold, and Jak Martin took the next three spots to post the highest scoring event for any team during the meet with 29 points.
On the track, Jalen Williams, Zeke Newman, and Ryan Pascual gave Southern Virginia much needed points across the 100, 200, and 400 meter events. Nik Del Pontone also produced a podium finish in the 400m hurdles with a time of 58.05 seconds
In the distance events, Dylan May, Joseph Hughes, and Kedryn Chandler put on a clinic and tallied major points in each event they contested. May took care of business in the 10,000 on day one, outlasting his closest opponent during the final laps. The next day, he combined with Hughes to sweep the top two spots in the 1,500. Garrett Rogers also contributed mightily with a personal best of 4:07.21 to secure fifth place.
Hughes captured his first win of the meet after a thrilling 800m. He set a blistering pace in the opening lap and hung on to claim gold. Chandler also ran exceptionally well in third with a time of 1:57.89. May capped off a perfect day individually by crossing the line first in the final individual track event of the day, the 5,000m.
Pfeiffer would ultimately claim the team title, finishing with 217 points. They become the first team to finally dethrone Southern Virginia after a three season reign as outdoor champions.
Major Awards
Dylan May's three individual titles during the weekend give him a total of 11 USA South titles in his running career at Southern Virginia. It's the first time he's won Outdoor Track Athlete of the Meet, but it's his second major award this season after winning Track Athlete of the Meet during the indoor championship in February.
For the most up-to-date information and details on the team, visit knightathletics.com and follow @knightxctf on Instagram.
