CU men's T&F claim program's first MSC crown

Feb. 21—LOUISVILLE — For the first time in program history, Cumberland's men claimed the Mid-South Conference indoor track and field championship last Friday.

Iredia Goodness was named the Mid-South Conference Athlete of the Year and Freshman of the Year. First-year coach Atsu Nyamadi was named the Mid-South Conference Coach of the Year and CeCe Francis earned MSC Assistant Coach of the Year.

After Friday's events, the Phoenix sat on top of the leaderboard in first place with 211.5 points. Trailing behind Cumberland, the University of the Cumberlands finished in second place with 189 points, Campbellsville came in third with 136, and Lindsey Wilson was fourth with 107. The rest of the teams did not have more than 57 points after the first day.

The Phoenix picked up 11 individual and group champions throughout to propel Cumberland to their first banner. Jason Bowers won four titles to lead the Phoenix. Logan Istre and Joel Forbes won a total of three each. Iredia Goodness picked up two in jumps, Tahmar Upshaw and Denis Kipligat each won two as a part of the relay teams and Will Marsh, Damiah Smith, Benjamin Nyakudya and Luke Freeman each contributed to one championship.

Bowers continued to have one of the most incredible seasons put together by an athlete at Cumberland. He claimed first place in the mile with a time of 4:08.35 and followed that up with a victory in the 3000m with a time of 8:14.73. Bowers broke the meet record in both of those events. He was also a part of the 4x800m Relay and the Distance Medley team that won.

Istre, another talented freshman, posted wins in the 200m and 400m. He posted a time of 21.70 to win the 200m and a time of 48.91 to win the 400m.

He also helped the 4x400m relay team earn the MSC title in the event.

Forbes posted wins at the 600m and 800m. Forbes notched a 600m time of 1:21.64 and an 800m time of 1:57.49 to earn the championships in those events. Forbes was another leg of the 4x400m team as well as Istre.

Goodness continued to dominate the jumping events winning the long jump with a mark of 7.56 meters, a new meet record. He also shattered the meet record in the triple jump with a mark of 15.17 meters to claim his second title.

Cumberland fared well in the relays all day, winning three of the events the distance medley, 4x400m and 4x800m. The distance medley was the first event of the day consisting of Jason Bowers, Damaiah Smith, Will Marsh and Denis Kipligat won with a time of 10:29.12.

The 4x400m relay team of Logan Istre, Benjamin Nyakudya, Tamar Upshaw and Joel Forbes won with a time of 3:19.06. The 4x800m relay team of Luke Freeman, Tahmar Upshaw, Jason Bowers and Denis Kipligat broke the meet record with a time of 7:57.01.

Outside of the champions, Cumberland had plenty of performances that helped the Phoenix get to the top.

In the 60m, Akpan Nsikak took third place with a time of 6.93 and Tobi Oniyide finished in sixth at 6.95. Renaldo Savoury took third place in the 60m hurdles with a time of 8.62. Dinkon Sinisterra took sixth at 8.81. Oniyide also finished in seventh in the 200m.

Nyakudya took fourth in the 400m at 50.29 and Forbes finished in 10th at 52.76. Nyadukya also took third in the 600m and Upshaw placed sixth. Upshaw finished in seventh in the 800m.

In the 1000m, Upshaw and Freeman finished three and four with times of 2:36.03 and 2:36.36 to give the Phoenix points. Freeman also checked in at fifth in the mile at 4:23.86.

Ethan Rhoden had two top-6 performances taking sixth in the 5000m at 15:44.48 and second place in the 3000m racewalk at 16:46.26.

The Phoenix had three top-10 finishes in the high jump as Goodness took the silver medal. Liyu Scarlassara finished in fourth at 1.96m and Mackey Bonds took ninth.

Jaylen Poole took fifth place in the long jump at 6.80m and Ronald Ndlovu was just behind him in sixth at 6.77m. Savoury finished with silver in the pole vault at 3.95m and Tate Tevaughn came in sixth. Tevaughn also came in ninth in the men's shot put.

The Phoenix will be back in action in South Dakota at the NAIA National Championships on March 4-5.

Records fall as Phoenix women take thirdLOUISVILLE, Ky. — Records fell as Cumberland claimed five individual Mid-South Conference champions on theway to a third-place finish at the MSC Indoor Track & Field Championships last Friday.

The University of the Cumberlands took first place with 210.5 points. Campbellsville finished just behind the Patriots in second place with 205. The Phoenix fell in at third with 112 points.

Praise Idamadudu continued to shine in championships claiming three conference titles for the second year in a row at the event. Idamadudu won the 60m dash with a time of 7.47 followed that by winning the 200m with a time of 24.15 and the 400m at 55.93.

Doris Mensah won the 60m hurdles with a time of 9.00 for the freshman's first conference championship and Daveina Watson won the shot put with a throw of 12.63m.

Cumberland altogether had 13 top-finishes at the championships helping the team take the bronze medal as a squad.

Alana Mack posted three of the top 5 finishes placing second in the long jump, breaking the meet record, at 5.51 meters, third in the women's triple jump with a mark of 11.48 meters, and third in the 60m dash at 7.58.

Mercy Kibiwott notched a silver finish in the 5000m posting a time of 18:06.18, setting a new meet record with the time. Kibiwott also finished fifth in the 3000m with a time of 10:50.67.

Dani Rivera finished in fifth in the mile run with a time of 5:29.33.

The 4x400m relay team of Idamadudu, Sabrina Anderson, Maddie Bittle and Leesa Mutandwa took third place with a time of 4:08.70.

The distance medley team of Mutandwa, Sarah Wilkerson, Kasey Quezada and Dani Rivera took fourth place.

Cumberland will be back on the track for the NAIA National Championships in South Dakota on March 4-5