Golden Eagles Finish with 11 Top-Three Performances at C-USA Outdoor Championships

SAN ANTONIO – Highlighted by Fred Moudani's title in the shot put and the women's 4x100 relay taking gold, the Southern Miss track and field team finished a grueling three days at the Park West Athletics Complex with 11 podium performances at the 2022 Conference USA Outdoor Championships hosted by UTSA.

"I'm really proud of this team," said head coach Jon Stuart. "They were fantastic. They're all just such great competitors. In a tough meet like this, with a lot of heat and a lot of great competition, they performed so well. I couldn't be more proud of this team. We'll be back and stronger than ever next year."

The women's team earned fourth overall, scoring 91 points over the three days, marking the third-most points at the Conference USA Outdoor Championships behind the 2018 championship team and the 2005 runner-up squad, while the men finished seventh, totaling 39 points.

Southern Miss picked up their first points of the competition in the lone race and field event on Friday, with freshman Oliwia Wawrzyniak taking fourth in the 10K race with a time of 36:14.20 to move into third all-time in program history and Isabella Simonelli throwing a new personal best of 178' 8.0" to take sixth in hammer throw.

On Saturday, Simonelli opened the day by just missing another PR with a toss of 152' 9" to earn seventh and pick up another two points in the women's discus.

Marquasha Myers became the first Golden Eagle to medal in the women's long jump since Torie Bowie in 2012 and eighth overall, increasing her personal best from 18' 10.5" to 20' 4.5" to take bronze and be the first on the podium during the 2022 championships for the Black and Gold.

Myers success continued on Sunday, as she just missed making the podium for a second time, leaping 42' 5.25" to finish fourth in the triple jump. After running a personal-best 13.62 in the prelims of the 100m hurdles, the Orlando, Fla. native concluded her time at the championships by scoring in her third event, taking fifth in the 100m hurdles finals with a time of 13.75.

"Marquasha Myers scoring 15 points for us was just incredible," Stuart added. "Scoring in three events is tough for any athlete to do, she was really just a warrior for us all weekend."

Leading Conference USA throughout the season in the shot put, Moudani backed up his regular-season performances, winning the shot put competition by nearly six feet. The two-time C-USA Male Field Athlete of the Week threw 63' 0.25" to become just the second Golden Eagle to win the event, joining Aaron Ammons, who took the title back in 2009.

"Fred was magnificent as always," said Stuart of the gold medal performance. "He just performed with no pressure whatsoever, and came through like we knew he would."

Following in Moudani's footsteps, the Golden Eagles got a big time performance on the women's side in the shot put, as Jordan Speer threw to a new personal best of 50' 2.0" to medal, taking third in the event, while moving into fourth all-time for the program.

"Jordan responded so well from a rough performance in the hammer throw," added Stuart on Speer's medal-winning performance. "She picked up some much needed points for us and PR'd by a good foot and a half."

Carrying momentum from Sunday's field events, the women's 4x100 team of Trinity Flagler, Kenia Seals, Savi'a Varnell and Trinity Benson opening the day on the track with a bang, completing the relay in a blistering 44.86, to take gold over Charlotte by nearly half a second and become the third women's 4x100 to take the crown in program history and first since 2006.

Seals day was far from finished, as the Southaven, Miss. native went on to capture two more medals, running a personal-best 11.55 in the 100m to take bronze, before capping her day off with another PR of 23.54 to dash to another PR in the 200m to become the first three-time All-Conference selection since Mariam Kromah also brought home three medals back in 2016.

"I was really excited for Kenia," Stuart added. "She was a key leg in our 4x100 team becoming champions. She was stellar for us throughout a tough Sunday of competition for her."

Right after the 4x100, senior Sandra Szpott moved herself into second all-time in the 1500m run with a time of 4:25.60 to grab a third-place finish and her first outdoor medal.

On the men's side for sprints, Elijah Miller was able to secure his spot in the NCAA East Preliminaries in his last opportunity to do so, as the senior dashed to a third-place finish in a time of 10.24 for a new lifetime best.

Already a two-time Conference USA medalist, Landon Chalden, added two more medals to his career total with a silver medal performance in the 400m hurdles and a huge anchor split in the 4x400 to help the relay capture bronze. Holding the school record in the event already, Chalden moved the program standard to 51.34 with his time in 400m hurdle prelims.

After just missing the podium in the 10K race, Wawrzyniak, came back with a vengeance in the 5K on Sunday, breaking a Park West complex record to earn silver in a time of 16:37.50 for the freshman.

In the final race, the men's 4x400 relay of Cardet Bienvenue, DJ Butler, Dylan Evans and Chalden became just the second 4x400 relay team to medal at the C-USA Outdoor Championships, with a third-place finish in a time of 3:11.02.

All points performances for the meet are as followed:

Women –
100m – Seals (3rd, 11.55), Trinity Flagler (7th, 11.77), Trinity Benson (8th, 11.78)
100m hurdles – Myers (5th, 13.75)0
200m – Seals (2nd, 23.54), Benson (7th, 24.35)
400m – Savi'a Varnell (8th, 1:04.83)
800m – Smilla Kolbe (4th, 2:10.50)
1500m – Szpott (3rd, 4:25.60), Kate Mattox (8th, 4:34.52)
5000m – Wawryzniak (2nd, 16:37.50)
10000m – Wawryzniak (4th, 36:14.20)
4x100 relay – Flagler, Seals, Varnell, Benson (1st, 44.86)
4x400 relay – Taylor Harris, Flagler, Kolbe, Benson (4th, 3:44.15)
Discus – Simonelli (7th, 152' 9.0")
Hammer – Simonelli (6th, 178' 8.0")
High jump – Janique Burgher (8th, 5' 7.0")
Javelin – Arianna White (8th, 143' 3.0")
Long jump – Myers (3rd, 20' 4.5")
Triple jump – Myers (4th, 42' 5.25"), Ashlee Osaji (6th, 41' 6.0")

Men –
100m – Miller (3rd, 10.24)
200m – Miller (8th, 22.67)
400m – DJ Butler (7th, 48.31)
400m hurdles – Chalden (2nd, 51.45)
4x100 – Dee Baker, Elijah Burton, Bienvenue, Miller (7th, 41.61)
4x400 – Bienvenue, Butler, Evans, Chalden (3rd, 3:11.02)
800m – Evans (7th, 1:55.54)
Javelin – Ty Pridgen (7th, 186' 11.0")
Shot put – Moudani (1st, 63' 0.25")

Student-athletes who qualified will return to action on May 25-28 for the NCAA East Preliminaries in Bloomington, Ind. hosted by the Indiana University.

Golden Eagles Finish with 11 Top-Three Performances at C-USA Outdoor Championships

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Players Mentioned

Trinity Benson

Elijah Burton

DJ Butler

Landon Chalden

Dylan Evans

Trinity Flagler

Taylor Harris

Smilla Kolbe

Kate Mattox

Elijah Miller

Marquasha Myers

Ashlee Osaji

Kenia Seals

Isabella Simonelli

Sandra Szpott

Savi'a Varnell

Arianna White