Results
Louisville, KY – The Patriots came away with a runner-up finish at the Mid-South Conference Indoor Championships on Friday. Four first-place finishes highlighted UC's day along with 10 other podium finishes, eight NAIA National Qualifying performances, and a pair of new meet records. Cumberlands scored 189 points for their second-place finish. This marks the most points for a second-place team in MSC Indoor History, and would have been good enough for first-place in four of the previous five championships.
 
The men's sprinters had a day, led by Kerrington Eubanks who took the gold medal in the 60m dash. The freshman raced to a 6.90 finish, for a national B standard. Two other Patriots raced in the 60m finals including Matthew Chavers and Ryan Long. Chavers ran a 6.91 B cut in the prelims before placing fourth overall with a 6.94 finish. Long placed seventh in the finals, crossing the finish in 6.99 to score two more points for UC. Chavers also had a great day in the long jump, where he placed second with an "A" cut mark of 7.16m.
 
This trio also posted scoring performances in the 200m dash. Eubanks finished third earning his second All-Conference honors of the day. He finished in 21.80 for another national qualifying standard. Long also hit a "B" cut in this race, finishing in 21.81 for fourth. Chavers paced a 22.29 for fifth while Elyon Bando finished sixth in 22.31.
 
UC's next gold-medal performance came in the 60m hurdles where Leonardo Daley won for the second year in a row, and hit an NAIA A Standard. The junior hurdled his way to a meet record 8.14 finish while his teammate, Nathan Howard, placed eighth with a time of 9.03.
 
Carson Johnson continued his dominance in the 3k racewalk with his third MSC Indoor Title in as many years. Johnson crossed the finish in 13:27.43 to score ten points for his team. Chris Greer also scored in this event, pacing a new PR of 18:53.22.
 
The final winning performance on Friday was in the pole vault competition. Tristan Petrey earned his first indoor gold medal after hitting an "A" cut mark of 4.77m, a new meet record. He was accompanied on the podium by Lucas Lambo, who earned Third-Team All-Conference honors after a 3.75m clearance. Alex Lockhart rounded out the Patriot scorers in this event, placing fourth with a height of 3.75m as well.
 
UC's middle-distance duo of Deshawn Crowe and Lonnell Johnson also scored an abundance of points for the team in the 600m and 800m. Crowe ran his three laps in 1:22.19 while L. Johnson finished in 1:22.35 for fourth. Andrew Barker also scored in the 600m, placing eighth in 1:24.13. Johnson and Crowe also placed second and fourth in the 800m, with Johnson getting the podium finish this time. He ran a 1:58.21 while Crowe crossed the finish line in 1:58.25.Crowe and Barker combined for six points in the 1k run with fifth and seventh place performances. They ran times of 2:37.42 and 2:39.52.
Ludovico Vaccari ran one of the most exciting races of the day in the 5,000m run. He sprinted down the home stretch neck and neck with his opponent who edged out the victory by under a tenth of a second. Vaccari earned second, pacing his 5k in 15:05.49. Kyle Woodward clocked a 15:29.42 to place fourth in this event as well.
 
The 3k event featured three Patriots including Caleb Rigney who came away with a bronze medal. He finished his race in 8:44.39 for the podium finish. Vaccari was the second UC finisher, placing fifth in 8:48.34 while Noah McClellan finished seventh in 8:48.84.
 
All three of UC's relays finished top-three. The DMR squad of McClellan, Rigney, Bando, and Dillan Melchiore came away with second place, combining for a 10:29.12 finish. The 4x800 relay clocked a 8:21.93 and featured Melchiore, Clay Hogue, Seontae Morris, and AJ Barker. Finally, the 4x400 squad raced in the final event of the meet where Jeremy Slaughter, Eubanks, Long, and Bando ran a 3:23.16 for a bronze medal.
 
The Patriot throwers combined for 14 total team points. James Crawford was the highest UC finisher, placing fourth in the shot put after a 13.63m throw. Logan White and Xavier Ramsey also scored with sixth and eighth place performances. Heath Rexroat led the way for Cumberlands in the weight throw after a 14.22m mark for fith. He was followed by Aaron Coffey who placed eighth after a 13.65m toss.
 
Cumberland University took the MSC title after scoring 211.5 points on Friday. UC finished second with 189 while Campbellsville placed third with 136. Lindsey Wilson and Shawnee State rounded out the top-five finishers with 107 and 57 points respectively.
 
Cumberlands will have two weeks until the NAIA Indoor National Championships, hosted in Brookings, SD. The meet is scheduled to begin Friday March, 3^rd.
 
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