BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – On the opening day of the 2017 Southern Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships held at the Samford Track and Soccer Stadium, Wofford College had numerous strong performances. The men's squad is currently sixth (14 points) after the first day of events.  
 
Two school records were set on Thursday by the women's team. Terriers also reached the Friday finals in twelve events, along with the men's and women's 4x100 and 4x400 relays.
 
All of the field events for the championship were contested Thursday in an effort to avoid the inclement weather expected in the Birmingham area Friday. In the men's hammer throw, Gaston Hayworth was fifth overall at 50.15 meters. Conrad Heinrich was fourth in the javelin with a distance of 53.27 meters. Omar Mingo took fourth place in the triple jump, going 14.39 meters. Emily Williams just missed scoring for the Terriers, taking ninth place in the javelin with a throw of 31.41 meters. Hunter Griffin earned All-Freshman Team honors in both the discus and hammer throw.
 
In finals of track events on Thursday, Shannon McAndrew was eleventh in the 10,000 meters with a time of 41:17.34, while Anya Bunao was ninth in the 3,000 meter steeplechase in 11:35.93.
 
Among those qualifying for finals on Friday in track events were Mary Stewart Wilson and Jamie Barnett in the 1500 meters, along with Kassidy Morton in the 400 meters. Amber Lust advanced in the 100 meter hurdles with a school record time of 14.42. McLeod Dean reached the finals of the 200 meters with a third place finish at 24.33 and advanced in the 100 meters with a school record time of 11.82. Bosco Bapoupeleh qualified in the 100 meters and 200 meters. Joe Harbacevich was second in the preliminaries of the 800 meters. Jonathan Hall reached the finals of the 400 meter hurdles. Wofford also has runners in the men's and women 5,000 meters and the men's 1,500 races on Friday.
 
In the women's heptathlon, Amber Lust was first in the 100 meters and 200 meters. Through the first four events, Lust was second with 3,011 points and Sara Jane Hayes was sixth at 2,361 points. 
 
For the men in the opening five events of the decathlon, Conrad Heinrich is in third place at 3,137 points and Sam Robinson is sixth with 2,792 points. Heinrich was first in the shot put and second in the 400 meters.
 
Samford is currently in first place in both the men's and women's championship. The championship will conclude on Friday, with a full day of events beginning with the last five events of the men's decathlon and ending with the 4x400 relays. Friday's running events were also moved up 3 1/2 hours each, starting with the women's 4x100-meter relay at 9:30 a.m. Central. The decathlon will still begin at 8:45 a.m. as previously planned.