Championship Central
Day Two Meet Results
 
DENTON – Six Conference USA champions were crowned on day two of the 2023 C-USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships. Competition of the four-day meet, hosted by North Texas at the University of North Texas Track and Field Stadium will resume Saturday at 10 a.m. CT. 
 
In the men’s hammer throw, Rice swept the podium with junior Shaun Kerry taking first place with a throw of 64.21 meters (210-08) on his first attempt. Cal Abdulky took second place with a mark of 61.60 meters (202-01) and Nick Hicks finished third with a 60.09 meter (197-01) mark.
 
Rice junior Tara Simpson-Sullivan took first place in the women’s hammer throw for the third consecutive year, recording a mark of 67.86 meters (222-07) which moves her to No. 5 in the nation. She becomes the first three-time champion in the event since Nina Schvedoff of UTEP accomplished the feat from 2006-2008. UTSA’s Acacia Astwood took silver with a school-record mark of 59.39m (194-10). FIU’s Michaelle Valentinplaced third with a throw of 58.85 meters (193-01). 
 
UTSA’s Jack Turner won his third-straight C-USA decathlon gold medal as he broke the C-USA meet record with 8,011 points. Turner is the first student-athlete who took home three consecutive C-USA decathlon first place finishes since 2009-2011 (Philip Adam, Rice). He took first place in two events and second in five. The junior won the long jump with a mark of 7.67 meters and the 400-meter race with a time of 48.14 seconds. 
 
Rice’s Grant Levesque finished in second with 7, 903 points after winning in the 100m (10.43s), high jump (1.95m), 110-meter hurdles (14.38s) and pole vault (5.15m).  Joel McFarlane of UTSA took bronze with 7,661 points. 
 
Eliza Kraule of Rice won the C-USA heptathlon title as she finished with a school record of 5,501 points following seven events. Kraule maintained the lead since the end of yesterday’s four events and took first place in two. Kraule’s teammate Lindsay Simms took silver with 5,214 and UTSA’s Sigrid Kleive won third place with 5,175 points. 
 
The first running events of the championships were the women’s 10,000-meter where Caitlin Wosika of Ricecrossed the line first in 36:10.93. Freshman Faith Nyathi of Middle Tennessee placed second with a time of 36:24.46, while Charlotte’s Chandler Horton clocked a 36.35.47 for third place. 
 
In the men’s race, Charlotte’s Nick Scudder repeated as the 10,000-meter champion as he recorded a time of 30:12.99. He becomes the first back-to-back champion in the event since the 2015-16 season (Endalow Takele, WKU). Teammate Aaron Rovnak took silver with a time of 30:35.88 and Middle Tennessee’s Vincent Yegon placed third clocking a time of 30:42.58.
 
After two days of competition, Charlotte leads the men’s standings with 39 points, Rice is in close second with 37 points and UTSA is in third with 18 points. On the women’s side, Rice is on top with 47 points, FIU holds second with 17 points and UTSA follows with 16. 
 
Field events resume Saturday with the men’s discus, long jump and pole vault at 10 a.m. CT. Running prelims kick off with the women’s 1500-meter  race at 2:30 p.m. The day will conclude with the women’s and men’s 3,000-meter steeplechase, with the women starting at 6 p.m.
 
The championship concludes Sunday with the remainder of the field events and running finals. The women’s shot put starts at 10 a.m. and the men’s 4x400 relay wraps up the meet at 6 p.m. An awards ceremony will follow. Fans can watch the running events for free on CUSA.TV.