JACKSON, Miss. — Absury men's and women's track & field competed in the Collegiate Conference of the South (CCS) Championships Tuesday and Wednesday, the men placing fourth overall with a 99.5 score and the women finishing fourth with a 88 score.
Day One Highlights
The Eagles opened the championship meet in strong fashion behind sophomore Emma Groff, who claimed two gold medals in one of the most unique doubles of the weekend. Groff won the pole vault with a clearance of 2.75 meters before returning to capture the 3000-meter steeplechase title in a school-record time of 12:10.5, trimming 20 seconds off her previous mark.
On the men's side, Matthew Wilson completed an Eagle sweep of the pole vault events, winning the men's competition with a school-record clearance of 4.30 meters (14'1"), which was later confirmed as a CCS Championship meet record.
Cameron McElroy added points in the field events with a bronze-medal finish in the javelin throw.
During preliminary action on the track, Manny Dut led all qualifiers into the 400-meter finals after breaking his own school record with a time of 48.5 seconds.
Another standout moment came in the men's 800-meter preliminaries, where Jacob Graston delivered a breakout performance. Graston slashed seven seconds off his previous personal best with a time of 2:02.2 to qualify for the finals alongside teammates Drew Beedle and Coleman Anderson.
Day Two Highlights
The final day brought even more success for the Eagles, highlighted by Bailey Gassmann in the women's 1500 meters. Gassmann surged late to win the conference title in a CCS Championship meet-record time of 4:44.25, nearly 10 seconds faster than her previous school record. The mark now ranks second nationally in the NCCAA this season.
One of the most exciting races of the meet came in the men's 800-meter final. In a tightly packed field entering the home stretch, Beedle sprinted to victory in a personal-best 1:57.85, earning an NCCAA qualifying mark. Graston followed closely behind in third place with another lifetime best of 2:00.56.
Mikayla Ruccio matched her own school record in the high jump, clearing 1.55 meters to capture a conference championship.
The meet concluded with a dramatic finish in the men's 4x400-meter relay. Entering the final event, the Eagles sat fifth in the team standings, trailing Huntingdon by just half a point. The quartet of Beedle, Anderson, Caleb Payne, and Dut delivered a season-best time of 3:26.17. Dut took the baton for the anchor leg in third place before charging into the lead on the backstretch and holding off Huntingdon in the final meters to secure the win and move Asbury into fourth place overall.
Additional All-Conference finishes included Kallee Cooper, who broke the school record in the women's 400 meters with a third-place time of 61.58 seconds. Brooke O'Carroll posted a personal best to finish third in the women's 800 meters, while Carson Meloon cleared 6'1.5" for runner-up honors in the men's high jump.
The women's 4x400-meter relay team of Gassmann, O'Carroll, Cooper, and Adyson Mattingly also earned All-Conference honors with a second-place finish.
"This was a really good trip. The team cheered for and supported each other, and had a really great time. The athletes we had did a really good job with many seasons best performances. We just had too many empty events and didn't have the depth necessary to score the points we needed. Injuries and some eligibility issues thinned out our ranks this spring, but it's on me and our other coaches to recruit enough good athletes to cover those kinds of setbacks."
Randy Crist | Head Track & Field Coach
TEAM RESULTS:
Men - 4th Place
Women - 4th Place
FULL INDIVIDUAL RESULTS:
Click here for result
The Asbury track and field team will now prepare for the NCCAA Track & Field Outdoor Championships held from Wed., May 6 to Fri., May 8 in Wilmore, Ky.
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