Charleston Southern University’s men’s track and field team finished second at the Big South Championships, held in Tryon, North Carolina. The Buccaneers scored 160 points, securing the runner-up position.
Martin Iriondo was named Most Valuable Athlete for his performance. Aden Price received the Freshman of the Year award. The team’s coaching staff was recognized as Coaching Staff of the Year.
In distance events, Charleston Southern continued its strong record. Four runners participated in the mile, 3,000 meters (3K), and 5,000 meters (5K), earning a combined 84 points with each athlete finishing in the top five for these races. The 5K event took place on Friday.
Micah Gilpatric won the 3K title with a time of 8:17.56. Iriondo finished second at 8:18.61 and Griffin Gillespie was third with an 8:19.84 finish. Caleb Kenyon placed fifth with a time of 8:26.11.
The Buccaneers dominated the one-mile race by taking all top four spots: Gillespie finished first (4:11.95), followed by Iriondo (4:12.72), Gilpatric (4:13.15), and Kenyon (4:13.41).
Sprinters also contributed to team success by winning titles in three events—60 meters, 200 meters, and 400 meters—during what coaches described as a resurgence for this group over winter.
Aden Price ran personal bests to win both the 200m (21.15 seconds) and the 400m (47.30 seconds). His time in the 200m places him among the league’s all-time top ten and is second fastest in school history; his mark in the 400m ranks fifth at Charleston Southern.
Laden Beckwith won the finals of the 60m dash with a time of 6.76 seconds and took second place in the 200m at 21.16 seconds—a result that puts him third on Charleston Southern’s historical list for that event.
Hunter Adams reached sixth place in the finals of the men’s 400m with a run of 49.86 seconds.
Three Buccaneer athletes advanced to compete in Sunday’s final round of the men’s eight hundred meter race; Collin Kleinhen led them by placing second overall at a time of 1:53.28 while Kaden Kleinhen and Jackson Lovvorn were sixth and seventh respectively.
Charleston Southern’s relay team—Price, Beckwith, Adams, and Jayden Anderson—finished third in their heat for men’s four-by-four-hundred-meter relay with a time of three minutes fifteen point thirty-six seconds—the fourth fastest ever recorded by Charleston Southern for this event.
In field competition, Odin Ferency threw a career-best shot put distance of sixteen point fifty-three meters to claim third place; Tarrell Miles achieved his own best throw at fifteen point twenty-three meters for eighth position during Saturday’s meet.
The team will take some rest before starting their outdoor season later this month when they will participate either at Charlotte’s 49er Classic from March nineteenth through twenty-first or host competitors locally during their own Buccaneer Invitational on March twentieth.
