Smith Sets 400M Indoor Conference Meet Record while Koala Men also Win 4x400 Relay Title

WINSTON-SALEM, NC - Columbia College freshman runner, Alex Smith, took home an individual men's conference title on Thursday at the AAC Indoor Track and Field Championships as he set an AAC meet record in the 400 meters finishing with a time of 48.86 seconds (NAIA top 40 time) to take first place and earn 10 team points for the Koalas.

The two-day conference meet is being held at the JDL Fast Track in Winston-Salem, NC.

The Koala men finished in sixth place out of 11 in the team standings with 65.5 points, just 1.5 points behind fifth place CIU. The highlight of day two was the men's 4x400 meter relay team, consisting of M. Guadeloupe, A. Pouncie, K. Holman, and A. Smith, taking the first place title by running a meet-record time of 3:18 to set the meet record by two seconds and the 27th best NAIA time while finishing nearly four seconds ahead of 2nd place CIU. 

Also doing well in the 400 meters was sophomore Ashton Pouncie coming in 5th place in 49.66 seconds while freshman Meshach Guadeloupe was 6th in 50.48 seconds. The trio combined for 17 team points. Also running was sophomore Kamron Holman who placed 14th of 18 in 52.6 seconds.

In the 60 meter prelims, the Koalas had four sprinters attempting to qualify for the 8-man finals but would fall just short led by junior Willy Calcano finishing 13th of 23 in 7.07 seconds while freshman Tijai Hartwell was tied for 16th in 7.18 seconds. Holman also finished 21st in 7.25 while freshman Jaden Barnette was 22nd in 7.29 seconds.

In the 200 meters, A. Pouncie and A. Smith then led the way placing 9th and 11th respectively in times of 22.5 seconds and just missing the top 8. Calcano was also 18th of 32 in the 200 in 23 seconds.

Freshman Nevan Gaither then led the Koalas in the field events on Thursday placing 3rd in the Triple Jump and 7th in the High Jump to earn a combined 7.5 team points for CC. In the triple jump, Gaither's 3rd place mark of 14.04 meters (46 ft) was a top-48 NAIA mark while his high jump mark of 1.8 meters (nearly 6 ft) was good for T-7th out of 12.

In the weight throw on Thursday, freshman Jaden Reed led the Koalas placing 15th out of 24 with a throw of 12.5 meters (41 ft) while junior Jonathan Davis was 17th at 12.2 meters.

During the Racewalk on Friday morning, the Koalas had 3 of the top 4 finishers led by freshman Jordon Miller coming in 2nd place in 18:07 (top 24 NAIA time) while sophomore Jude Dill was 3rd in 19:42 and freshman Jalen Miller in 4th in 20:50 as the trio combined for 19 team points.

The Koalas also finished 6th as a team in the 4000M Distance Medley Relay Thursday evening with a time of 11:05 for 3 team points led by the team of freshman Will Parker, Pouncie, freshman DJ McGriff-Agers, and grad senior Owen Jensen. Jensen then was 16th in the Mile run in 4:40 and 11th in the 3000 meters in 9:15. McGriff-Agers then ran well in the 600 meters finishing 3rd of 13 in 1:21 while coming in 8th place of 18 in the 800 meters in 2:01.

The men will next prepare to compete in the NAIA national tournament on March 5-7 in Gainesville, FL.