Charleston Southern University’s men’s track and field team finished the first day of the 2026 Big South Indoor Track & Field Championships in third place, largely due to a strong showing in the 5,000-meter run.
The Buccaneers scored 29 points in the 5K event, with five athletes contributing. Martin Iriondo secured first place with a time of 14:53.61, while Micah Gilpatric took second at 14:57.56. Griffin Gillespie and Caleb Kenyon placed fourth and fifth, clocking in at 15:00.04 and 15:04.88 respectively. Lin Scott completed the group by finishing seventh with a time of 15:20.33.
In the distance medley relay, Charleston Southern’s team—Collin Kleinhen, Brennan Johnson, Kaden Kleinhen, and Rogan Arriaga—finished third with a time of 10:06.54, marking the ninth-best performance in program history.
Sprints also saw notable performances from Laden Beckwith and Aden Price as both advanced through their preliminary heats. Beckwith posted a personal best of 6.73 seconds in the 60m dash—the fastest time of that round—and achieved another career best in the 200m at 21.59 seconds, ranking eighth all-time for the school. Price ran a 21.47 in the 200m and recorded a time of 48.24 in his events, placing him among the top three competitors overall. Hunter Adams moved on to Saturday’s finals in the 400m after running a personal best of 49.07.
All three Charleston Southern runners qualified for the next round in the day’s only other track event, the 800m race. Collin Kleinhen led with a time of 1:55.60; Kaden Kleinhen followed at 1:56.21; Jackson Lovvorn finished at 1:57.42.
In field events, Tarrell Miles earned one point for Charleston Southern by finishing eighth in the weight throw with his best mark reaching 16.76 meters.
The Big South Indoor Championships will conclude tomorrow, February 28, beginning with field events at 12:15 p.m., followed by track events starting at 2:10 p.m.
