Keck, Trimbur claim event titles on opening day

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. – Senior Mary Brigid Keck and junior Danielle Trimbur captured individual league titles on April 28, as the University of Mount Olive women’s track & field team held the top position after day one of the Conference Carolinas Championship.

The Trojans have tallied 54 points with six events scored following the opening day. Mount Olive scored in five events in the first session receiving a majority of its points in the hammer throw, javelin and long jump. Converse ranks second in the standings with 29 points, while Southern Wesleyan sits third with 28.

In the hammer throw, UMO featured three individuals among the top eight scoring positions to capture 17 of a possible 39 points in the event. Keck secured her first league title in the event in her career after a toss of 54.45 meters to collect maximum points for Mount Olive. Additionally, sophomore Adrienne Crawford placed fifth overall in the field and scored with a distance of 48.04 meters, while freshman Kenisha Barnes tallied points with a sixth-place finish after a toss of 43.28 meters.

Trimbur earned her third straight conference title in the javelin with a distance of 41.71 meters on Friday to earn maximum points toward the team standings. Junior Tylyia Triggs also registered points in the event after placing fourth overall with a season-best toss of 30.28 meters.

Freshman Trinity Frayer scored and placed second overall in the pole vault after clearing 3.04 meters.

In the long jump, the Trojans featured three individuals that scored points among the top eight positions. Senior Mora Smith finished fourth overall with a mark of 5.62 meters, while sophomore Jamesha Howell placed right behind in fifth after reaching 5.44 meters. Freshman Channie Jefferson also scored in the event after finishing seventh overall with a mark of 5.37 meters.

Freshman Ciara Sulton registered points and placed sixth overall after posting a time of 12 minutes, 39.74 seconds in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. Additionally, she qualified for the finals in the 1,500-meter run after setting a personal record of 5:07.08 in the preliminaries.

In the 400-meter dash, Mount Olive placed three individuals in the finals, led by senior Jaiden Moody, who set the fastest time in the prelims with a mark of 57.20 seconds. Sophomore Vinesha Briggs placed fifth in the event with a time of 57.73 to qualify for the finals, while teammate Natalyah Wilson finished sixth with a mark of 58.26 seconds.

The Trojans also featured three qualifiers for the finals of the 200-meter dash following the preliminaries on Friday. Senior Jaylin Reeves recorded the second-fastest time with a mark of 24.66 seconds, while Moody placed fifth with a personal-best time of 24.72 seconds. Briggs also claimed her spot in the finals after crossing the line in 25.33 seconds.

Additionally, Reeves secured her position in the 100-meter dash finals on Saturday after delivering the fastest time in the prelims with a mark of 11.84 seconds. Howell also qualified in the event with a sixth-place finish in the preliminaries after recording a time of 12.03 seconds.

Jefferson qualified in two additional events, the 100-meter hurdles and 400-meter hurdles. She posted the fastest mark in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 1:03.98 while placing third in the prelims of the 100-meter hurdles with a personal record of 14.87 seconds. Additionally, Triggs qualified in the 100-meter hurdles with a fifth-place finish and a personal best of 15.36 seconds. Sophomore Kiwanna Pemberton also reached the finals in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 1:07.43.

Sophomore Celine Fleurilus set a new personal record and placed fourth in the prelims of the 800-meter run with a mark of 2:21.95 to qualify for the finals.

— From University of Mount Olive Athletics