Lady Koala Indoor Track & Field Crowns 5 Champs at AACs led by Latrice Brown's Trifecta
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - The Columbia College women's indoor track and field team put on a show at the AAC Indoor Championships on Monday and Tuesday.
The Lady Koalas finished in 2nd place out of 11 in the team standings scoring 137 points to 197 points from Montreat College while CC has crowned six individual champs, a runner-up and two third place finishers.
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Setting the tone early in the meet, Montreat displayed posed and consistency as it collected the 2025 Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) Women's Indoor Track & Field Championship on Tuesday.
The two-day event was held at the JDL Fast Track in Winston-Salem, N.C.
Montreat tallied 197 points, setting the record for most points by a team. The previous best was 195 by Columbia in 2021. The Cavaliers also set the record for the largest margin of victory as they won by 60 points over second-place Columbia, who held the mark at 33 from its 2018 win.
The other individual award winners were Latrice Brown of Columbia as the Most Outstanding Performer.
The women have received Gold medals from sophomore sprinter Latrice Brown in the 60 meter dash finals in 7.92 seconds and 400 meters in a time of 1:02.36 seconds while 2024 All-American, sophomore Mackenzie Pringle was 2nd in the 60 meter Hurdles with a time of 9.1 seconds, just missing the title by .05. Her teammate, freshman Ziykila Henderson aso finished 7th in the Hurdle finals in a time of 9.88 seconds. Both ladies beat their finals times in the prelims with Pringle running at 8.97 sec and Henderson at 9.79.
Brown won the 60m qualifiers with a time of 7.84 seconds with fellow sophomore Ashante Shaw also coming in 7th in 8.09 seconds to also qualify for the 60 finals where she came in 8th place at 8.28 sec. Sophomore Kwamecia Marks just missed qualifying for the finals in a time of 8.12 seconds. Sophomore Mykayla Howard also competed and came in 14th in 8.2 seconds while Alston was 16th in 8.3 sec.
Brown then made it a trifecta winning the 200 meter dash in 26.3 seconds while teammate, M. Howard was right behind her in 2nd in 26.45 sec. Columbia placed five Koalas in the top 9 as Shaw was 4th in 26.59, Alston in 7th in 27.08 and Marks in 9th in 27.2 seconds. The top four placers combined for 25 points for CC.
However, Pringle finished 1st again in the Triple Jump to repeat as Indoor Conference Champ. She jumped a mark of 11.9 meters to set her season-high and quaify for nationals with the 6th-best mark in the nation. Sophomore teammate, Makayla Blango also placed 3rd in the Triple Jump with a mark of 11.33 meter which is the 26th best mark in the country.
Then, in the Long Jump, Pringle and Blango each placed in the top 5 coming in 4th and 5th place with marks of 5.06 and 5.05 respectively for 9 team points.
Finishing 5th in the women's 400 meters behind Brown were freshman Tylashia Alston in 1:02.8 while Ashante Shaw was 6th in 1:02.9. Freshman Faith Eugene also came in 11th in the 14-woman field in 1:05.6.
In the distance races, senior Mina Shull won the 3000 meter Race Walk in a time of 16:59 as she broke 17 minutes for the first time while also qualifying for Nationals with the 8th-best time in the country. Freshman teammate Amelia Nifong finished 2nd in the Race Walk in a time of 26:50 as well. Junior Juliana Gonzalez also placed 9th in the 800 meters in a time of 2:34 while coming in 9th in her heat in the Mile and 20th overall in 5:44 as well.
In the women's weight throw on Monday night, the Lady Koalas were led by three women placing in the top 5 as they combined for 15 team points. Senior Darci Dawson finished highest coming in 3rd place in 15.5 meters (50 ft) while sophomore Doreshia McAllister was in 4th at 15.15 meters. Senior Anaya Canty then threw a mark of 15.04 meters to finish 5th for her season-best throw. Sophomore Jada Robinson also competed and finished 12th out of 18 with a throw of 11.85 meters.
Dawson then came back and won the Shot Put on Tuesday with a stellar mark of 12.66 meters (41.6 ft) for 10 team points. Canty also competed and placed 13th (9.26m) while sophomore Azia Holmes was 14th at 9.25 meters and sophomore Qu'Sondra Wideman in 16th at 8.6 meters.
Finally, the women's meet ended with the 4x400 meter relay with the Lady Koalas placing 3rd out of 9 schools in a time of 4:17 which is a season-best and featured M. Howard, T. Alston, A. Shaw, and L. Brown.
The Koala men have also crowned one champ so far in senior race walker Dorde Racic as he came in first out of 7 in the 3000m with a time of 12:58 on Tuesday morning to qualify for NAIA Nationals. It was his season-best time and third-best in the NAIA while also an AAC meet record. Junior teammate Kristian Sanchez also placed 5th in 19:22.
Sophomore sprinter Willy Calcano also ran well finishing 6th in the 60 meter Dash Finals in a time of 7.15 seconds and was 7th in the prelims with a time of 7.06. Also competing in the 60m prelimas was Patterson and freshman William Smith as they placed 15th and 16th with times just under 7.2 seconds. Freshman Dominick Young also placed 20th in 7.28 sec.
In the men's Weight Throw Monday night, senior Daylon McDonald led the way placing 10th with a throw of 13.46 meters while senior teammate Gavin Rice was right behind in 11th place out of 19 with a throw of 13.1 meters. Men's triple jumper, sophomore Tyler Dixon then finished 6th in the finals with a mark of 11.8 meters.
In the men's Shot Put on Tuesday, junior Geo Tobias led the Koalas placing 8th out of 15 with a throw of 12.1 meters (39 ft) while Sam Ah Ping and Rice were 12th and 15th respectively. Ah Ping had a throw of 11.4 meters while Rice was at 11.1 meters.
In the men's 400 meters, senior Xavier Linen led the way finishing 5th overall in 51.3 seconds while sophomore Kimarje White came in 7th in 52 seconds. Columbia had 7 men compete in the 400 with four placing in the top 10 in the 20-man field. Coming in a tie for 8th place was freshman Tristen Patterson in just under 53 seconds (52.96) while fellow freshmen Ashton Pouncie and Ryan Flowers were 10th and 11th in 53.15 and 53.2 seconds respectively. Junior Caleb Bailey also ran the 400 and came in 13th in 53.5 seconds.
During the men's 200 meter dash on Tuesday, Calcano led the way placing 5th out of 26 with a time of 22.9 seconds while Linen also made the top 10 coming in a tie for 9th at 23.2 seconds. Patterson was right behind him in 11th at 23.27 seconds. White also placed 16th in 23.56 seconds while Bailey was 22nd in 24.1.
The men's 4x400 meter relay team ended with heartbreak as the Koalas not only lost to Montreat by a half second running a time of 3:27.5 but were then disqualified for a relay error during the race. The team featured White, Young, Patterson, and Bailey.
The men finished in 6th place out of 11 schools with 39 points, while Milligan won the team race, followed by Montreat and Reinhardt.
