SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The Southern Conference Men's and Women's Outdoor Track and Field Championships will take place at the Catamount Athletic Complex in Cullowhee, North Carolina, this Monday and Tuesday. This year marks the 98th championship for the men and 36th for the women.
Monday's schedule gets under way with the start of the decathlon at noon, followed by the start of the pentathlon at 12:15. The women's hammer throw final gets the field events started at 12:30 p.m., with the first track event, the preliminaries of the women's 1,500-meter run, slated to begin at 4 p.m. In all, 12 champions will be crowned on the first day of competition – four on the track and eight in field events.
Tuesday's schedule opens with resumption of the decathlon at noon, with the heptathlon resuming at 12:15. Field events begin with the women's shot put and men's discus finals at 2:15 p.m. and the women's 4x100-meter relay gets the track events started at 4 p.m. The day concludes with the women's and men's 4x400-meter relays at 7:25 and 7:35, respectively, followed by the awards ceremony. Thirty events will crown champions on the final day of the meet.
Wofford enters the championship having set two new records this season –
Jasmine Jefferson in the 400 meters and
Ellie Sawicki in the discus.
Kerrington Johnson is the defending champion in the 100-meter hurdles, whjle the women's 4x100 relay team also returns that took first place last season. The women have finished second in two of the last three outdoor championships (2019 and 2021), while the men's best finish was fourth in 2019.
Samford, which swept the men's and women's titles at the SoCon Indoor Track and Field Championships for the fourth season in a row, holds healthy leads in this season's outdoor power rankings, determined by the top eight times or scores that are reported by the schools for each event that will be conducted at this week's championships. On the women's side Wofford is second in the power rankings, while the men are sixth.
Tuesday's action will air live on ESPN+ on beginning at 4:00 p.m. Live results, daily recaps, photos and video highlights can be found at SoConSports.com.
