The first day of the 2023 South Atlantic Conference Outdoor Championships has ended and the Lenoir-Rhyne Men’s and Women’s Track and Field Squads took some top finishes in the field.

Both teams close the day in second place in each respective division, with the women generating 44 points while the men recorded 36.5 points. Wingate leads both competitions through the opening day.

For the women, their best event of the first stretch came in the pole vault where Pearl Ballard (3.40m) and Lacey Triplett (3.15m) finished second and fifth, respectively. Triplett, the senior from Boomer, N.C., also finished third in the javelin throw with a 36.96-meter heave.

Meanwhile, in some other field events, Melody Jones secured a fourth-place finish in the long jump with her 5.67-meter leap. For the women’s hammer throw, Olivia Jackson took fifth place with her 46.38-meter toss.

Despite there not being many running finals on the first day, Elizabeth Kessler finished fourth in the women’s 1000-meter steeplechase with a time of 11:38.70 seconds.

Switching over the men, LR had a couple of runner-up finishes which included freshman Orlando Descartes taking second in the javelin throw with a 54.83-meter hoist. Josh Wise came fifth in the event with a 51.58-meter throw.

In the men’s pole vault, Mike Karicher soared his way to second with a 4.35-meter clearance. Philip Stomne squeezed into the top five with a fifth-place result of 4.25 meters.

Lastly, the SAC Indoor Men’s Track & Field Athlete of the Meet Jacob Wadsworth registered a strong start to the outdoor championships, with a third-place 7.35-meter hop in the long jump.

The 2023 SAC Outdoor Championships will conclude on Thursday, May 4 at 11:00 a.m. from Anderson, S.C. The final day of the two-day event will be livestreamed on Flo Sports while you can stay updated with the live stats on LRBears.com.