Bulldogs produce 2 national qualifiers and earn multiple All-Conference finishes
By Roni Bailey
The Tennessee Wesleyan track and field team, after a hard-fought indoor season, recorded several strong performances at the Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) Indoor Track and Field Conference Championships, resulting in shiny medals as souvenirs to bring home and multiple All-Conference honors to remember.
Matt Murphy led the Bulldogs, winning the men’s triple jump with a mark of 14.5 meters to claim the conference championship. Dakota Caldwell also won the 3000m race walk. These performances qualified them a place as our 2 national qualifiers.
Tennessee Wesleyan also recorded two conference runner-up finishes. Lisa Sochen threw 12.11m in shot put, and KT Buchanan ran a 21.65 in 200m, each placing second in their events, earning All-Conference recognition.
Grace Clemens and the men’s 4×800-meter relay team added third place finishes to earn All-Conference honors.
Head coach Adrian Hutchins praised the team’s resilience throughout the meet, especially in the relays.
“They continued to fight through it, especially in the 4×4” he said.
The men finished 4th overall in the meet. Some notable performances are Roni Bailey, who placed fourth in the men’s 400-meter dash in 49.41 seconds. Dani Meisen finished fourth in the men’s 600 meters (1:21.47) and fifth in the 1,000 meters (2:28.81). Stephen Kerley placed fourth in the 1,000 meters (2:28.79) and fifth in the 800 meters (1:56.30).
On the women’s side, Clemens also placed fourth in the 60-meter dash (7.96). The women’s 4×400 relay team of Clemens, Joelle Bixby, Ann Moses, and Sariyah Cox finished fifth in 4:18.55, while Moses placed sixth in the 60-meter hurdles (9.93). Payton Manis placed sixth in the high jump (1.47 meters) and eighth in the triple jump (9.67 meters). Lydia Wever finished seventh in the 3,000-meter race walk (30:24) and helped the women’s 4×800 relay team to an eighth-place finish alongside Kaelyn Pluta, Chloe Dailey, and Victoria Verran (12:54.42).
The results reflect how hard the bulldogs work throughout the indoor season and set the stage for Murphy and Caldwell’s appearance at the NAIA Indoor National Championship, while the rest of the team gets ready for the outdoor season in good spirits, focusing on one goal: to win as a family.
“I think the biggest thing for us is continuing to clean up the little things,” coach H said. “Outdoor season gives us more opportunities to grow, get better technically and continue building confidence in our events.”
Coach H also emphasized the team’s mindset moving forward.
“I think the team is motivated going into outdoor,” Hutchins said. “Indoor conference showed us some things we did well and some areas where we can get better. The mindset now is to keep working, trust the process and take advantage of the opportunities we have during outdoor season. Each practice, each rep, each day is an opportunity to improve.”
Photos by Dakota Caldwell
Interview by Payton Manis
Edited by Hunter Cookston