HOMEWOOD, Ala. (May 12, 2025) - It was a busy day for ETSU track and field at the 2025 SoCon Outdoor Championships, led by a breakout medal-winning performance.
Freshman Allison Shingleton earned an upset win in the women's pole vault to lead ETSU on day one, becoming the third Buccaneer to win SoCon gold in the event alongside Diana Romero-Barba in 2024 and Ashley Kessler in 2015. Entering the competition with a personal best 3.42m jump - ranked eighth in the SoCon - the freshman from Gallatin, Tennessee, cleared 3.70m to set a new PR and claim a gold medal and 10 points for ETSU.
The Buccaneer women are in third after day one with 38.5 points, and the men are in sixth with 25. In total, the women's team won three medals and the men's team won two, with Shingleton the lone Buc on the top step. Deena Lutdke took silver in the women's 3000m steeple with a 10:58.62, and Tya Blake took home bronze in the long jump with a 5.79m best mark. Ben Smith took bronze in the men's long jump with a 7.00m jump, and Jake Cannon snagged bronze in the men's pole vault with a 4.85m clearance.
Other notable finishes include Frania Romero-Barba taking fourth in the women's pole vault at 3.55m and Tyla Nicholson setting a PR in the hammer throw at 44.60m to take fifth. Camryn Johnson set a PR in the 3000m steeple at 11:19.61 to finish fourth while Ansley Archuletta finished eighth with an 11:53.60, snagging the final team point available in the event.
For the men, Brent Bell finished fourth in the hammer throw at 49.91m to earn five points. Nathan Hillis and Ben Kenner both set personal bests in the 3000m steeple, with Hillis coming home fifth at 9:35.39 and Kenner seventh at 9:49.51, combining for six team points. Ethan Fulford set a season best in the pole vault at 4.40m to come home sixth, claiming three points for ETSU.
Both teams saw multiple runners advance in the sprint preliminaries, with D'Shawn Fletcher and Ben Smith both qualifying in the men's 100m and Smith setting a PR at 21.59 seconds in the 200m prelims to advance to Tuesday. Hayden Waleski ran a season best 1:55.52 in the men's 800 prelims to qualify for the finals, and freshman Theo Curling advanced in the men's 400m hurdles with a 1:00.44, the ninth best time in the field.
In the women's sprints, Micailah Cook set PRs in both the 200m and 400m prelims with a 24.03 and 55.20, respectively, to qualify for the finals in both races, while sophomore Gabrielle Walker qualified for the women's 100m finals with a 12.26. Meg Lance advanced in the 800m prelims with a personal best of 2:12.11.
Tomorrow's action resumes at 9:00 am, with ESPN+ coverage beginning at noon.
For more information on ETSU track and field, go to ETSUBucs.com.
