HIGH POINT, N.C. – The High Point men's and women's track and field teams defended the Big South Outdoor Titles, collecting the program's fourth straight sweep of the championships on Wednesday afternoon. The Panther men secured 288.5 points and witnessed 15 individual championships with three sweeps of the podium. The women walked away with 242 points and secured 14 individual titles with one sweep of the podium.
 
MEN TEAM SCORES
1 High Point 288.5
2 USC Upstate 156
3 Charleston Southern 119
4 UNC-Asheville 91
5 Winthrop 72
6 Gardner-Webb 65.5
7 Longwood
 
WOMEN TEAM SCORES
1 High Point 242
2 Charleston Southern 231
3 Radford 87
4 UNC-Asheville 78
4 Gardner-Webb 78
6 USC Upstate 50
7 Winthrop 45
8 Longwood 4
 
The first two days of the Championships opened with the decathlon and heptathlon events with a couple field event finals mixed in. In the decathlon, the Panthers swept the podium after taking first through fourth in the standings. Cole Wilson took home the individual trophy with 7466 points, breaking the program, conference, facility and meet record. He registered five new personal bests out of the 10 events including the 400m (50.07), high jump (2.01m), javelin (53.48m), 100m (10.84), and 1500m (4:45.62).
 
Felix Leblanc finished second with 6726 points after also recording personal bests in five different events. Joining Wilson and Leblanc on the podium, Kolt Byers placed third with 6470 points while also recording personal bests in four of the 10 events.
 
In the heptathlon, Karlea Duhon placed second overall with 4961. She recorded personal bests in three different events including the javelin (42.39m), 800m (2:31.84), and long jump (5.10m).
 
Both the men's and women's pole vault teams swept the podiums as both teams took first through fourth places. Reid Holloway took the crown clearing 5.15m and was joined by Jake Morgan in second with a 4.70m clearance and Maxwell Robinson with a 4.55m clearance. In Will Reeves first Big South Outdoor Championship he finished fourth overall with a personal best 3.80m. For the women, Auriane Viola won her first Big South Outdoor title clearing a personal best 4.15m. Grady Moyer placed second clearing 3.60m and Kaitlin Richards placed third clearing 3.45m for a personal best.
 
On day one, two more Panthers made the podium in their respective events. Ryan Tenor Jr. made the podium in third place in the men's javelin with a season best 56.81m. Charli Montalvo capped off the night on day one in her first ever 10000m race. She finished second overall with a time of 34:59.66.
 
On day two, the podium opened with Chris Van Niekerk taking the stand in first place in the men's shot put after shattering the program, conference, meet and facility record with an 18.77m throw.
 
Closing out the last events of day two, Jake Tarosky and Jake Fiorillo finished first and third in the men's 3000m steeplechase. Tarosky ran a 9:03.49 while Fiorillo recorded a personal best 9:20.34. In the women's 3000m steeplechase, Katie Taylor took home the title with a 10:32.14 personal best.
 
On the final day, the women's high jump opened the day setting the bar high. Steadily increasing the standard, Sydney Koker and Gianna Paul were the last two left after clearing 1.65m. Both cleared the next two bars at 1.70m and 1.73m as Paul finished at 1.73m for second place spot on the podium with a new personal best. Koker cleared the next bar at 1.76m for a new personal best and took home the individual title for her second season in a row.
 
In the men's high jump, two Panthers took to the stand after both recording a program record 2.14m clearance. The freshman, Shaun Thomas was crowned the Big South champion while Andrew Taylor joined him on the podium in second place.
 
Van Niekerk added another trophy to the case with a first-place finish in the men's discus. He threw 53.96m. Letizia Jessica Marsico also added another trophy to her list in the women's discus after throwing 48.57m.
 
Karlea Duhon wrapped up the field events in the women's javelin with a big throw in the fifth round. Her 42.59m personal best launch propelled her into first place overall to take home her first Big South individual title.
 
It was an electric open to the evenings running events as the men's 4x100m relay team smoked the competition to take the first-place title. Tyneilus Morrow, A'lajuwan Robinson, Deron Dudley and Isaac McGinnis all represented the squad. As HPU rounded the third turn in the race, the Panthers trailed behind UNC Asheville, but once Morrow handed off to Dudley, Dudley kicked it into gear and left the competition in the dust to help lead the team to a program record 40.08 second time.
 
The Panther men sweep the podium in the men's 1500m race as Graham Ferguson was crowned the champion with a personal best time of 3:46.21. Jason Thomson placed second with a time of 3:46.38 and Othmane El Gharissi placed third with a time of 3:47.13. As for the women's 1500m race, Brianna Malone ran a 4:27.93 for the first-place title.
 
The men's and women's 400m race witnessed top three finishes on both sides as Kelly Bell placed second in the men's with a program record 47.51 followed by Aidan Britt in third with a 47.53 time. Dae'Nitra Hester represented the women and finished second, breaking the program record with a 53.46 time.
 
It was a head-to-head battle in the men's 100m and 200m dashes, with the results coming down to the tenths of seconds. A'lajuwan Robinson had a personal best in the 100m dash to be crowned the champion with a 10.31 time. He later finished second in the 200m with a personal best time of 20.83, just .09 seconds ahead of Deron Dudley in third.
 
As for the women's 200m dash, Dae'Nitra Hester took first-place with ease in the final 100m's of the event. Stretching out her lead, she cruised in with a program record 23.65 time.
 
Graham Ferguson made it back on the podium in the men's 800m with a time of 1:51.85. Nikki Frail and Brianna Malone took first and second in the women's 800m race after recording times of 2:09.52 and 2:09.80 respectively.
 
Lindsay Cooper was the queen of hurdles on day three. She was crowned the champion in the women's 100m and 400m hurdles after recording a personal best time of 13.76 in the 100mH and a 59.15 time in the 400mH. In the men's 110m hurdles, Antonio Votour made the podium taking third place with a time of 14.58.
 
Multiple Panthers took to the podium in the men's and women's 5000m events. Othmane El Gharissi was the men's champion after running a 14:35.67 race. Charli Montalvo and Katie Taylor placed second and third respectively in the women's race.
 
Closing out the meet in the final race was the men's and women's 4x400m races. The men competed first and posted a time of 3:14.42 to take the gold. The team consisted of Aidan Britt, Graham Ferguson, A'lajuwan Robinson and Kelly Bell. The women's team also posted a strong finish with a time of 3:46.26 to earn a spot in second place on the podium.
 
Following the competition, the postseason awards ceremony was held and the High Point men's and women's track and field teams were announced as the 2024 Big South Champions. Below is a list of the postseason awards.
 
Women's Outstanding Performance
Auriane Viola, High Point (based on event performance by TFFRs of 4.15m winning the pole vault, T-53^rd in the nation)
 
Women's Most Valuable Athlete
Chloe Greene, Charleston Southern (based on highest accumulated point total of 31 points)
 
Women's Newcomer of the Year
Amaya Johnson, Charleston Southern (based on highest accumulated Newcomer point total of 21 points)
 
Women's Freshman of the Year
Brianna Malone, High Point (based on highest accumulated Freshman point total of 20 points)
 
Women's Coach of the Year
Mike Esposito, High Point
 
 
Men's Outstanding Performance
Cole Wilson, High Point (based on event performance by TFFRs of 7,466 points in the decathlon -- #19 in the nation, Championship Meet record and Vert Stadium record)
 
Men's Most Valuable Athlete
Quentin Peterson, Gardner-Webb (based on highest accumulated point total of 24 points)
 
Men's Newcomer of the Year
A'lajuwan Robinson, High Point (based on highest accumulated Newcomer point total of 23 points)
 
Men's Freshman of the Year
Conan Harper, Charleston Southern (based on highest accumulated Freshman point total of 18 points)
 
Men's Coach of the Year
Carson Blackwelder, USC Upstate
 
2024 Men's Outdoor Track & Field All-Academic Team
Tim Depue, Charleston Southern, Gr.
Quentin Peterson, Gardner-Webb, Soph.
Graham Ferguson, High Point, Jr.
Alec Daniel, Longwood, Jr.
Dylan Major, UNC Asheville, Sr.
Jared Keklak, USC Upstate, Gr.
Jonquez Webb, Winthrop, Jr.
 
Men's Outdoor Track & Field Scholar-Athlete of the Year
Dylan Major, UNC Asheville, Sr.
 
2024 Women's Outdoor Track & Field All-Academic Team
Chloe Greene, Charleston Southern, Jr.
Alena Ivano, Gardner-Webb, Jr.
Charli Montalvo, High Point, Soph.
Lauren Vick, Longwood, Soph.
Chloe Wellings, Radford, Sr.
Brianna Moore, UNC Asheville, Jr.
Sierra St. John, USC Upstate, Jr.
Faith Wood, Winthrop, Soph.
 
Women's Outdoor Track & Field Scholar-Athlete of the Year
Brianna Moore, UNC Asheville, Jr.