UMO garners all-region status in four events

NEW ORLEANS – Six members of the Trojans earned U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association all-region honors in four different events on Tuesday.

The top five individuals in each event from each region earned All-Region distinction, in addition to each member of the region’s top three relay teams. The regions used for this award – Atlantic, Central, East, Midwest, South, South Central, Southeast and West – match those used during the cross country season.

The University of Mount Olive led all Conference Carolinas programs with a combined 19 all-region performances between both teams with the men featuring six athletes with seven regional marks.

Junior Kamden Johnson received all-region status in both the high jump and long jump. He recorded the second-best distance in the Southeast Region in the high jump after tying the program record with a mark of 2.05 meters while competing at the JDL Early Bird Invitational. Johnson ranked third in the long jump with a school-record distance of 7.29 meters at the South Carolina Invitational.

Individually, senior Joshua Faison boasted the top distance in the shot put after shattering the school record with a toss of 16.63 meters in the opening meet of the year. Additionally, in the shot put, sophomore Nicholas Cloud ranked third in the Southeast Region following a personal-best mark of 15.62 meters in a second-place finish at the Conference Carolinas Championships.

Sophomores Alex Smith-Fort’e and Israel Long both received all-region status in the weight throw. Smith-Fort’e ranked first in the region with a distance of 17.58 meters, while Long established a personal record with a toss of 16.51 meters at the league championship to take third place in the event and in the region.

Sophomore Demonte Lavender garnered the all-region accolade after tying for third in the Southeast Region in the high jump after clearing 2.03 meters in South Carolina.

Faison earned USTFCCCA all-region honors a combined eight times in his career, while Johnson and Smth-Fort’e each received the accolade for a fourth time. Lavender collected the laurel for the third time and Cloud recorded his second all-region status at UMO. Long earned the honor for the first time in his career.

— From University of Mount Olive Athletics