McAllister Wins Conference Weight Throw Title as Ladies Finish 2nd Despite Relay Title

WINSTON-SALEM, NC - Columbia College Junior thrower, Doreshia McAllister, took home an individual women's conference title on Thursday at the AAC Indoor Track and Field Championships as she dominated in the weight throw winning with a mark of 16.42 meters (53 ft) to set the 22nd best mark in the NAIA.

The two-day conference meet is being held at the JDL Fast Track in Winston-Salem, NC.

The Lady Koalas finished in 2nd place in the team standings after both days with 129 points behind the 175 from team champion Milligan. The women moved from 4th to 2nd late in the day by winning the 4x400 relay and placing four women in the top 8 of the 200 meters. Montreat finished in 3rd with 119 while Brenau was 4th with 116. None of the other 8 AAC schools could even come within 70 points of the top four teams.

CC took first place in that 4x400 relay in a time of 4:05 to set a meet record by 1.5 seconds over runner-up CIU, led by the team of Tylashia Alston, Faith Eugene, Shakayla Burroughs and Sharetta Jones.

The women dominated the weight throw as they had three of the top four placers who combined for 21 team points including senior Anaya Canty coming in third place with a throw of 13.3 meters (43 ft) and fellow senior Hali Doctor placing 4th at 12.94 meters (42.5 ft). In the Shot Put on Friday, the Koalas were led by junior Azia Holmes coming in 5th place at 10.64 meters (nearly 35 ft) with Canty coming in 10th at 9.99 meters.

During the 200 meters, the Koalas placed 4 in the top 8 and 5 in the top 10 combining for 18 team points led by Jayla Graham finishing 2nd in 25.9 seconds and Dara Gray placing 4th in 26.1 seconds. Sophomore Faith Eugene then placed 6th in 26.2 while sophomore Ty Alston was right behind in 7th in 26.25. Junior Myikayla Howard was also 10th of 30 in 26.4 while freshman Sharetta Jones was 12th in 26.67 and K. Marks 14th in 26.9 seconds.

In the women's 400 meters, the Koalas had 3 of the top 8 finishers out of 16 runners led by sophomore Tylashia Alston placing 4th in one minute flat while freshman Sharetta Jones was 6th at 1:00.65 and sophomore Faith Eugene in 8th in 1:01. The three ladies combined for 9 team points.

In the Triple Jump, junior Makayla Blango finished third out of 9 to earn six team ppints with a mark of 11.14 meters (36.5 ft) for the 37th-best NAIA jump while freshman Chenoa Haygood was 6th at 10.6 meters (34.9 ft) for 3 team points. Then, in the Long Jump, Graham did very well palcing 2nd with a mark of 5.55 meters (18 ft) for 8 points while Haygood and Blango tied for 6th of 14 at a mark of 5.08 meters for 5 points.

In the distance races, senior Juliana Gonzalez finished 12th of 15 in the 5K with a time of 20:06 before coming in 13th in the Mile in 5:44. Then, the 4000-meter Distance Medley Relay team came in 6th place out of 10 in a time of 13:39 for 3 team points on Thursday as well. That team consisted of freshman Annsley Howle, freshman Shakayla Burroughs, freshman Aja Rushing, and sophomore Avarose Buccino. In the 600 meters, Howle finished 5th of 8 in 1:47.7 while Rushing was 12th in the 800 in 2:31. Buccino was also 14th in the 3000m in 11:37.

Then on Friday morning in the 4x800 meter relay, the Lady Koalas finished 5th of 9 in 10:56 led by the team of Howle, Burroughs, senior Jennyfer Vigueras, and freshman Alissa McCann. During the 3000 meter Racewalk, the Koalas had five of the top six finishers led by Vigueras placing 2nd in 21:58. Sophomorme Amelia Nifong was then third in 24:40 and McCann 4th in 24:42 with freshman Mizoria Cook 5th in 24:43.

Finally, in the 60 meter dash prelims on Thursday night, freshman sprinter Dara Gray was in 2nd place after running a time of 7.93 before going on to finish in 3rd place out of 8 in the finals on Friday morning in 7.91 seconds for six team points while F. Eugene was 7th in 8 seconds for two team points. Also running in the 60m prelims on Thursday was sophomore Jayla Graham finishing just one spot out of the finals in 9th place in 8.1 seconds while juniors Kwamecia Marks and Myikayla Howard tied for 14th out of 20 in 8.22 seconds.

The team will next prepare for the NAIA national tournament from March 5-7 in Gainesville, FL.