BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (2/24/20) – It didn't take long for Arkansas State to score big points on day one of the 2020 Sun Belt Conference Indoor Championships.
A pair of Red Wolves notched conference titles in Camryn Newton-Smith (pentathlon) and Bennett Pascoe (5000m), while A-State athletes earned a spot on the podium in six events. After the first day of action, Arkansas State led both on the men's and women's side, with the women (51 points) being four points ahead of second-place South Alabama and the men tied atop the leaderboard with USA with 39 points.
A-State's multi-athletes got things started off with a bang, with Camryn Newton-Smith shattering the school record in the pentathlon en route to capturing the conference crown in the event with 4,071 points – just eight shy of matching the conference meet record. With the win, she became the first Red Wolf to win the pentathlon since Samone Thompson (2016, 3,764 points) and just the third in school history to ever win a conference pentathlon championship.
Newton-Smith's title came by way of two personal bests in the high jump and the 800m, while also winning three of the five events (60m hurdles, high jump and long jump). Her high jump mark of 1.74m (5-8.5) ranks eighth in program history, and her performance ranks ninth in the NCAA. Allie Hensley also contributed five points with a personal-best score of 3,707 to place fourth. Her total ranks
The Red Wolves' women's squad then picked up 19 more points in the shot put, with Evangelynn Harris earning silver and Grace Flowers picking up a bronze medal. Babette Vandeput placed seventh to earn two points and Chastery Fuamatu rounded out the top eight with both posting personal-best marks.
Eron Carter gave the men's team its first points of the day, earning bronze in the shot put with a throw of 15.71m (51-6.5). A-State then picked up 14 points in the men's long jump with a third-place result by Carter Shell in the long jump, leaping 7.40m (24-3.5). Courtney Thomas jumped 7.28m (23-10.75) to place fifth, while Coleton Clifft followed in sixth with a jump of 7.23m (23-8.75).
Later in the day, A-State's distance athletes posted strong times to add more points to both teams' totals. The Red Wolves tallied nine points in the women's 5000m with fourth- and fifth-place results by Elizabeth Gillette (17:21.18) and Sophie Leathers (17:25.31). Both times rank in the top five in program history.
Pascoe then put together one of the best races of his career in his 5000m victory and helped A-State to 12 total points in the event. The Conway, Arkansas, native remained steady throughout the 25 laps, breaking ahead of UT Arlington's Justin Domangue and continued to widen his lead with just under a lap to go, nearly matching his school-record time with a run of 14:35.56. John Carder added two points with a seventh-place finish in 14:48.85 that ranks second in school history.
The Red Wolves closed out day one with a bang, racking up silver-medal finishes in both the men's and women's distance medley relays. On the women's side, the team of Elizabeth Martin, Kyndall Hudson, Kayla Wade and Sammy Brainard clocked a time of 12:09.55 while the men's group of Garrett Becker, K'Den Johnson, Alejandro Vargas and Coleman Wilson ran 10:20.94 to round out the day of scoring for A-State.
In the heptathlon, A-State's Hayden Hampton and Ty Graser posted multiple seasonal and personal bests, with Hampton holding a slim lead with three events to go at 2,944 points after winning the high jump with a clearance of 1.98m (6-6.0). Graser currently sits fifth with 2,786 points.
Arkansas State also saw 16 athletes advance to the finals in their respective events (10 men, 6 women), including four in the women's mile and three each in the men's 800m and mile. Amari James posted a personal-best 8.10 to automatically qualify for the men's 60m hurdles final, while Osereme Erewele ran a season-best 7.60 to move on to the women's 60m final.
Action begins at 9 a.m. with the final three events in the heptathlon. The women's high jump will begin at 11:30 a.m., with the first track event – the women's mile final – slated for 2 p.m. The track events will be streamed live on ESPN+ beginning at 2 p.m. with Drew Fellios and Matt Schumacker on the call.
For the latest on the A-State track and field program, follow @AStateTrack on Twitter and @Arkansas_State_Track on Instagram, while also liking the team's Facebook page at Facebook.com/AStateTrackAndField.
A-STATE AT THE 2020 SUN BELT CONFERENCE INDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS
WOMEN'S RESULTS (*denotes collegiate best; ^ denotes season best)
TEAM SCORES (Through 5 events scored)
1. Arkansas State – 51 points
2. South Alabama – 47
3. Troy – 20
4. Georgia State – 19
5. Appalachian State – 16
6. ULM – 15
7. Texas State – 13
8. UT Arlington – 7
9. Georgia Southern – 3
T10. Louisiana – 2
T10. Little Rock – 2
60m (Prelims): Sadi Giles (Texas State), 7.49Q
A-State: 4. Osereme Erewele, 7.60Q^; 10. Jonae Cook, 7.69
200m (Prelims): Sadi Giles (Texas State), 24.41q
A-State: 13. Osereme Erewele, 24.92; 22. Briana Hardiman, 25.25
400m (Prelims): Imani Flanagan (Georgia State), 55.72q
A-State: 12. Briana Hardiman, 57.19; 17. Kyndall Hudson, 58.03*; 31. Blaique Webster, 1:03.01
800m (Prelims): Tanner Guest (Troy), 2:15.03Q
A-State: 11. McKenzie Cornell, 2:20.37; 13. Kayla Wade, 2:21.11
Mile (Prelims): Angela Alonso (Georgia State), 4:57.65Q
A-State: 2. Pauline Meyer, 5:00.27Q; 3. Elizabeth Martin, 4:57.75Q* [No. 4 in school history]; 6. McKenzie Cornell, 5:00.92Q* [No. 7 in school history]; 9. Sammy Brainard, 4:58.74q* [No. 6 in school history]
5000m: Lotte Meyberg (Georgia State), 16;49.36
A-State: 4. Elizabeth Gillette, 17:21.18* (5 points) [No. 4 in school history]; 5. Sophie Leathers, 17:25.31* (4 points) [No. 5 in school history]; 10. Sarah Trammel, 17:48.13*
60m Hurdles (Prelims): Javlyn Cameron (Texas State), 8.57Q
A-State: 5. Camryn Newton-Smith, 8.67q; 11. Imani Udoumana, 8.80; 14. Alexis Woodall, 8.95; 20. Rainee Bowers, 17.04
Distance Medley Relay: Troy, 11:55.44
A-State: 2. Elizabeth Martin/Kyndall Hudson/Kayla Wade /Sammy Brainard, 12:09.55 (8 points)
Long Jump: Jasmine Scott-Kilgo (ULM), 6.07m (19-11.0)
A-State: 16. Johnaya Givens, 5.41m (17-9.0)^; 17. Arabriuan Mack, 5.37m (17-7.5)
Shot Put: Autavia Fluker (South Alabama), 15.34m (50-4.0)
A-State: 2. Evangelynn Harris, 15.14m (49-8.25) [8 pts]; 3. Grace Flowers, 14.86m (48-9.0) [6 pts]; 6. Babette Vandeput, 13.56m (44-6.0)* [3 pts]; 13.38m (43-10.75)* [2 pts]
Pentathlon: 1. Camryn Newton-Smith, 4,701 points (10 points) [School-record]; 4. Allie Hensley, 3,707 points* (5 points) [No. 6 in school history]
Pentathlon 60m Hurdles: 1. Camryn Newton-Smith, 8.63 (989 points); 9. Allie Hensley, 9.61 (787 points)
Pentathlon High Jump: 1. Camryn Newton-Smith, 1.74m (5-8.5) (903 points)* [8th in school history]; 2. Allie Hensley, 1.71m (5-7.25) (867 points)
Pentathlon Shot Put: Hanna-Mai Vaikla (South Alabama), 12.65m (41-6.0) (704 points)
A-State: 3. Camryn Newton-Smith, 11.92m (39-1.25) (656 points); 5. Allie Hensley, 11.43m (37-6.0)* (623 points)
Pentathlon Long Jump: 1. Camryn Newton-Smith, 5.92m (19-5.25) (825 points); 5. Allie Hensley, 5.59m (18-4.25) (726 points)
Pentathlon 800m: Emilie Berge (South Alabama), 2:22.10 (795 points)
A-State: 3. Allie Hensley, 2:29.10 (704 points)*; 4. Camryn Newton-Smith, 2:29.57 (698 points)*
MEN'S RESULTS (*denotes collegiate best; ^ denotes season best)
TEAM SCORES (Through 5 events scored)
T1. Arkansas State – 39 points
T1. South Alabama – 39
3. Texas State – 38
4. Louisiana – 29.5
5. UT Arlington – 18
6. Appalachian State – 16
7. ULM – 14.5
60m (Prelims): Ismael Kone (UT Arlington), 6.78Q
A-State: 2. Chris Hill, 6.84Q* [T6 in school history]; 10. Courtney Thomas, 6.93
200m (Prelims): Ismael Kone (UT Arlington), 21.20q
A-State: 3. Jermie Walker, 21.43q; 9. Chris Hill, 21.88
400m (Prelims): Elijah Wright (Little Rock), 48.24q
A-State: 3. Kobey Hill, 48.44q*; 4. Jermie Walker, 48.58q
800m (Prelims): Eric Hawkins (ULM), 1:55.65Q
A-State: 2. Seth Waters, 1:55.88Q; 4. Handre Jonker, 1:55.98Q; 8. Alejandro Vargas, 1:56.49q; 13. Darrian Lockett, 1:59.00^; 15. Gregoire Saury, 1:59.28
Mile (Prelims): Johen Deleon (Texas State), 4:18.25Q
A-State: 2. Gregoire Saury, 4:18.26Q; 4. Bennett Pascoe, 4:18.65Q; 5. Seth Waters, 4:18.50Q
5000m: 1. Bennett Pascoe, 14:35.56 (10 points); 7. John Carder, 14:48.85* (2 points) [No. 2 in school history]; 9. Ethan Mychajlonka, 14:53.60* [No. 5 in school history]
60m Hurdles (Prelims): Yves Cherubin (Louisiana), 8.09Q
A-State: 3. Amari James, 8.10q*; 11. Hayden Hampton, 8.62; 13. Ke'Von Holder, 9.02
Distance Medley Relay: Texas State, 10:16.46
A-State: 2. Garrett Becker/K'Den Johnson/Alejandro Vargas/Coleman Wilson, 10:20.94 (8 points)
Pole Vault: Noah Mumme (South Alabama), 4.91m (16-1.25)
A-State: 9. Matthew Keown, 4.71m (15-5.5)
Long Jump: Ronnie Briscoe, Jr. (Texas State), 7.43m (24-4.5)
A-State: 3. Carter Shell, 7.40m (24-3.5) [6 points]; 5. Courtney Thomas, 7.28m (23-10.75) [4 points]; 6. Coleton Clifft, 7.23m (23-8.75)* [3 points]
Shot Put: Rickssen Opont (South Alabama), 16.47m (54-0.5)
A-State: 3. Eron Carter, 15.71m (51-6.5) [6 points]; Eric Williams, FOUL
Heptathlon 60m: Chandler Mixon (Louisiana), 7.10 (847 points)
A-State: 3. Ty Graser, 7.25 (796 pts); 4. Hayden Hampton, 7.31 (775 pts)*
Heptathlon Long Jump: Lucas Van Klaveren (UT Arlington), 7.02m (23-0.5) (818 points)
A-State: 3. Ty Graser, 6.68m (21-11.0) (739 points)*; 4. Hayden Hampton, 6.63m (21-9.0) (727 points)*
Heptathlon Shot Put: Julien Olivas (Texas State), 13.92m (45-8.0) (723 points)
A-State: 3. Hayden Hampton, 12.84m (42-1.5) (657 points); 6. Ty Graser, 11.44m (37-6.5)* (572 points)
Heptathlon High Jump: 1. Hayden Hampton, 1.98m (6-6.0) (785 points); 4. Ty Graser, 1.86m (6-1.25) (679 points)*
