Cardwell and Smith Lead Bearcats at RSC Championships

LOGAN, OH – The men's and women's track and field teams excelled exponentially at the River States Conference Championships this past weekend. The women finished in 5th out of the 11 conference teams while the men finished 7th out of the 11.

The Conference Championships were led by the field events as the Lady Bearcats kick off the long jump. Jordyn Cardwell broke the meet record in preliminaries with a mark of 5.43m (17' 9.75"). She set the meet record two years ago with a mark of 5.39m that hadn't been broken until now. Cardwell also placed first in the finals for long jump with a mark of 5.28m (17' 3.75") which was just two inches off from her qualifying for Nationals. As we headed to the weighted throw, Ashby Greenwell finished sixth in both the prelims and the finals with both marks landing at 12.89m. Cardwell met the other competitors in the high jump lane where she placed second of nine with a mark of 1.55m (5'1"). Jordyn didn't stop there as she took on the triple jump with a third-place finish at a mark of 10.67m. Greenwell found herself back on the field for the shot put where she placed third in prelims with a mark of 12.28m (40' 3.5") to earn third place in the results.

Ricardo Smith placed ninth in the men's long jump with a mark of 6.22m as well as placing first in pole vault with a height of 4.10m. Ethan Pierce had the same mark to land him in third place.

As we head to the track, the women's 4x800 relay consisting of Carmela Shorkey, Victoria Poon, Ashaunte Watts, and Mia Grosshans, placed fourth out of seven with a time of 10:46.84. Maliyah Wilson-Taylor continued to dominate the track as her, and Abigail Burgett finished back-to-back in their preliminary heat in the 60m dash. Wilson-Taylor finished with a time of 7.95 as Burgett followed right behind with a time of 8.08. Both women also competed in the 400m dash where they respectively placed third and sixth along with Ashaunte Watts finishing in tenth. To finish off the track events for the women, the 4x400 relay team in Burgett, Cardwell, Jeneil Morris, and Wilson-Taylor, finished in fourth place with a time of 4:22.58.

The men would finish off the meet for the Bearcats as the 4x800 team in Nicholas Greer, Matthew Parson, Brody Kurz, and Gerrick Sheffer place seventh out of ten with a time of 8:42.06. Ricardo Smith would race in the 60m hurdles as he crossed the line with a time of 8.60 placing him in third place and a qualifying spot to Nationals. Declan Armistead ran in the 600m run as he placed fourth out of 18 with a final time of 1:24.54.

To wrap up the indoor season, Abigail Burgett and Adam Gregory each received the Champions of Character Award as they exemplified the five score values of the Champions of Character.