By: Seth Stogsdill, Assistant Director of Athletics Communications
SATURDAY
MEMPHIS, Tenn. – The Centre men's track & field team made a furious push to the finish at the 2021 Southern Athletic Association, finishing just one point shy of first place Rhodes.
The Colonels finished with 177 points for the championship meet, finishing second to Rhodes's 178. Berry finished third with 138 points, followed by Birmingham-Southern and Oglethorpe to round out the top five.
The Centre men had a fine day in the relay events. In the 4x100, the team of
Tanner May,
Gray Rahbany,
Thomas Jordan and
JP Vaught took first place with a time of 42.13. Jordan, May and Vaught then teamed with
Jake Pfaller to take second in the 4x400.
The relays were just the start of a huge day for Vaught, who raced in three individual races as well, winning all three. Vaught won the 100 in 10.87, the 200 in 21.34 and the 400 in 47.94. Vaught's winning time in the 400 broke Ryan New's school record in the event that had stood since 2004, and also set a new conference championship record.
Centre's entire sprint squad had excellent days in individual events. May finished second in the 100, while Rahbany finished fifth in the 400 and seventh in both the 100 and 200.
In hurdles, Pfaller picked up a big victory for the Centre men in the 400, posting a time of 57.48 to take the win. He and Jordan were joined by
Pete Shipley and
Mykal Bright in the scoring column, with Shipley landing on the podium as well with a third place time of 57.74. In the 110, Jordan was the top finisher for the Colonels, placing second with a time of 15.51. Shipley and Pfaller also got into the scoring column for the Colonels in the 110.
In the 800,
Noel Dingle placed eighth overall with a time of 2:05.04.
The triple jump saw
Aaron Bastian take fifth place with a mark of 42-8, followed immediately in the standings by Pfaller and Bright. In the high jump, Jordan and Bastian each cleared 5-8.
Finally, in throws,
Will Perkins had an excellent day in the discus, finishing third overall with a mark of 123-11. In the javelin, Bright scored in his fourth event of the meet, placing eighth with a throw of 125-11.
FRIDAY
MEMPHIS, Tenn. – The Centre men's track and field team competed in the first of two days of action at the Southern Athletic Association Championships at Rhodes. Through six scored events the Colonels trail Rhodes by a margin of just three points.
Centre finished Friday's six scored events with a total of 58 points, only three behind Rhodes with 61. Berry is in third place with 49 points, followed by Millsaps and Hendrix to round out the top five.
In the distance events, the top performer of the day for the Centre men was
David McGrade, who finished in second place in the 10k with a time of 32:33.10.
Andrew Edwards took sixth place in the same race with a time of 33:17.84. In the 3000m steeplechase,
Spencer Harvey took sixth place with a time of 10:11.30.
The Colonels had a fine day of scored jumping events as well. In the pole vault,
Thomas Jordan established a new career mark with a clear of 12-11, good for third place.
Mykal Bright finished in sixth place with a clear of 10-5.5. Jordan just missed out on the podium in the long jump after a mark of 22-0.25, good for another personal best.
The best events of the day for the Colonels were the throws.
Allen Richardson claimed the first individual conference title for the Centre men in the shot put with a mark of 47-11.75. Teammate
Braden Tabor finished in second place in the same event with a throw of 43-7.75. Richardson got to his second podium in as many events in the hammer, finishing third with a mark of 143-8, one centimeter shy of second place.
Will Perkins took fourth place with a mark of 141, while
Kirsci Vincent finished in eighth place with a throw of 111-1 as they combined with Richardson to score 12 points for the Colonels, tied for the most by any team in the event.
ALL-SAA
All-SAA honors are given to those student-athletes who finish in the top three in their respective events. A running tally of Centre's All-SAA performers and their events based on their highest finishes will kept here during the conference championships.
FIRST TEAM
Thomas Jordan (4x100m relay)
Tanner May (4x100m relay)
Jake Pfaller (400m hurdles)
Gray Rahbany (4x100m relay)
Allen Richardson (Shot Put)
JP Vaught (4x100m relay, 400m, 100m, 200m)
SECOND TEAM
David McGrade (10k)
Braden Tabor (Shot Put)
HONORABLE MENTION
Will Perkins (Discus)
Pete Shipley (400m hurdles)
