COLUMBIA, SC – For the second year in a row, Campbellsville completes the NCCAA Track & Field sweep with a win at the outdoor championships this week.
The Tigers combined for a team total of 190 points, while second place only had 98 points. Back in February, Campbellsville won the NCCAA Indoor Championships.
Jumps continue to be the headliner for the Tigers success. Corey Smith II and CamRon Hamby were two key highlights this week for the Tigers. The duo put themselves in position in two weeks for the NAIA National Championships to put on a show in the jumps. Smith hit a personal best in the event on his final attempt of the meet with a new school record and NAIA 4th best jump of the year, 15.23m, earning the victory in the process. Hamby was only .05 behind him with a personal best mark of 15.18m, placing 2nd. Kilan Macklin and Jaron Hamby scored four points in the triple jump. Macklin was 6th at 13.87m, and Jaron was 8th, earning one point with a mark of 13.32m.
Macklin gave Campbellsville 16 points alone from both of his runner-up finishes this week. In the high jump, Macklin hit a height of 1.96m on his first jump. Van Thrasher and Hamby were back-to-back in the high jump in 4th and 5th. Thrasher, who is normally a hurdle specialist, placed 4th at 1.96m, clearing it on his final attempt. Hamby was 5th at 1.93m, hitting the mark on his first jump. Raylon Wilson was the final Tiger to score in the event, placing 7th overall at 1.93m with a clearance on his second attempt.
For the long jump, he hit a mark of 7.19m on his final attempt of the meet. Hamby placed 4th in the high jump at 6.78m, while Wilson was 6th overall with a mark of 6.68m.
Ishan Cooper and Thrasher keep producing key points for Campbellsville in the hurdles. Cooper won the title at the 110m hurdle distance, improving upon his previous school record by .05 to a new time of 14.29, and is now ranked 9th in the NAIA. Thrasher earned the bronze in 14.85. Malachi Crawford earned Campbellsville three points in the event 15.85. Thrasher earned his second podium finish of the meet in the 400m hurdles with a bronze medal in 55.59. Gregory Carr was 5th in the 400m hurdles with a time of 57.77.
Earlier in the meet, Crawford competed in the decathlon and was the runner-up in the event with a new school record amount of points across the ten events of 5,746. Cainan Daniels was 5th in the decathlon, earning 4,367 points.
Isaac Kiprop won his second 3,000m steeplechase of the season. Kiprop led wire to wire in the event with a time of 9:30.84. Lukas Smithson joined Kiprop on the podium in the event, placing 3rd in a new personal best time of 9:46.15. Brother Myles Smithson was close behind Lukas in 4th at 9:48.37.
Elijah Moore and Zachary Phelps qualified for the finals in the 100m. Moore came off a school-record performance at the Mid-South Conference Championships of 10.69 and ran a 10.71 in the preliminary round. In the finals, Moore placed 3rd in 10.72 while Phelps was behind in 4th in 10.74. Phelps was able to jump back in the 200m, earning a podium finish in the event, placing 3rd in 22.04. Maikyah Stowe scored three points in the 200m finals with a time of 22.20. Stowe missed a podium finish in the 400m with his season-best time of 49.51, placing 4th.
The three relays for Campbellsville combined for 21 points throughout the week. In the 4x100m relay, Phelps, Moore, Stowe, and JaQuez Campbell were runner-ups in the event in 41.61. For the 4x400m relay, the team of Darionta Bell, Stowe, Phelps, and Alexander Boyd, Jr. missed a podium finish in 4th in 3:23.36. The final relay in the 4x800m relay earned the silver medal with a season-best time of 7:48.08 with Kiprop, L. Smithson, M. Smithson, and Alexander Steen on the team.
Jackson Hollinsworth was in a battle to the finish in the pole vault on Friday. Hollinsworth improved his school record height by .22m with a new mark of 4.60m. He and James Larimore of College of the Ozarks were neck and neck throughout the entire event before Larimore cleared 4.70m, giving Hollinsworth the silver medal. Justice Edlin scored one point in the event with a personal best mark of 4.00m.
Jonah Oliver and Seth Cartwright were the final points scorers in the Tigers victory at the NCCAA Championships. Oliver made a podium finish in the discus with a 3rd-place throw of 41.76m. In the hammer throw, he set a personal best mark of 44.16m, placing 8th. Cartwright was one spot off the podium in the shot put on Friday with a personal best mark of 14.67m on his third attempt of the day.
Campbellsville will now look ahead to the NAIA National Championships in two weeks in Marion, Indiana. The Tigers will take six athletes across five events.
Ishan Cooper (110m hurdles)
Van Thrasher (110m hurdles)
Isaac Kiprop (3,000m steeplechase)
CamRon Hamby (high jump, triple jump)
Kilan Macklin (long jump)
Corey Smith II (triple jump)
