Burnette, Faison sweep weekly conference honors
MOUNT OLIVE – The University of Mount Olive men’s track and field program swept the weekly honors from the Conference Carolinas announced Dec. 6, as senior Justen Burnette was named Track Athlete of the Week and senior Joshua Faison was selected Field Athlete of the Week.
The Trojans opened the 2022-23 indoor season last weekend at the JDL Fast Track in a pair of events while the men’s team combined to hit four NCAA provisional marks, set two school records and broke a meet record.
A native of Winston-Salem, Burnette collected two NCAA provisional times and event wins in his first appearance of the season. He finished first in the 60-meter dash with a time of 6.85 seconds at the JDL Early Bird Invitational, while crossing the line in 21.94 to win the 200 meters. With the flat track conversion, Burnette reached the NCAA standard in the 200 meters.
Following the opening week of competition, he holds the fastest times in the league in both events, while holding the third-best time in NCAA Division II in the 200 meters. Burnette is a four-time All-Region recipient during the indoor season and two-time conference champion in the 200 meters.
A 6-foot-5 senior from Clayton, Faison had a stellar performance over the weekend after breaking his own school record in the shot put twice and setting an NCAA provisional mark in the event. On Dec. 3, he broke the school record on his fifth attempt in the shot put with a distance of 16.26 meters to finish third in the event. Faison only finished behind two Division I throwers from Wake Forest at the Visit Winston-Salem College Kick-off.
On Dec. 4, he shattered his school record in the shot put a second time while reaching the NCAA standard and setting a new meet record at the JDL Fast Track. He secured first place in the event with a throw of 16.63 meters. He also placed fourth in the weight throw behind a personal record of 15.39 meters.
Faison currently holds the sixth-best distance in the shot put this season in NCAA Division II.
— From University of Mount Olive Athletics
