TRYON, N.C. – Charleston Southern men's track and field had a massive day on Saturday to claim runner-up honors at the Big South Championships with their team score of 160.
Martin Iriondo was named the Most Valuable Athlete,
Aden Price earned Freshman of the Year and the Bucs were voted as the winners of the Coaching Staff of the Year award as well.
The Buccaneers continued their stretch of sustained success in the distance events with their four runners who ran in the mile, 3K and 5K combined to score 84 points with them all finishing inside the top five in the events. The 5K was ran on Friday to begin their successful weekend.
Micah Gilpatric won the 3K title with a time of 8:17.56 while Iriondo was second with 8:18.61 and
Griffin Gillespie had an 8:19.84 to round out the podium.
Caleb Kenyon ran 8:26.11 for fifth in the event.
In the one mile, the Buccaneers claimed each of the top four spots in the event. Gillespie led them to the finish and was followed by Iriondo, Gilpatric and Kenyon in that order. They had times of 4:11.95, 4:12.72, 4:13.15 and 4:13.41 in the finals of the race.
One of the storylines of the winter season for the Bucs was the reemergence of the depth of their sprinters with them claiming the titles in the 60m, 200m and 400m. Price ran personal bests of 21.15 in the 200m and 47.30 in the 400m to win those championships. The 200m time ranks inside the league's all-time top ten for the event and second in school history while the 400m one places him in fifth.
Laden Beckwith had a time of 6.76 in the finals to claim the title in the 60m along with a 21.16 in the 200m to claim second. The 200m time puts him third in school history and just outside the conference's all-time top ten.
Hunter Adams also advanced to the 400m finals and ran 49.86 for sixth in the event.
The Buccaneers had three runners advance to the 800m finals and
Collin Kleinhen headlined the team's performances with his 1:53.28 for second in the event.
Kaden Kleinhen and
Jackson Lovvorn went 6-7 with times of 1:55.27 and 1:55.34.
The day came to an end with the 4x400m relay. Charleston Southern placed third in the event with their time of 3:15.36 with the group including Price, Beckwith, Adams and
Jayden Anderson. Their time ranks as the fourth best in school history.
In the field events, the Bucs saw
Odin Ferency claim third in the shotput with a career best throw of 16.53m. Additionally,
Tarrell Miles threw for a career best 15.23m for eighth at the meet. Ferency moved up to third in school history while Miles did to sixth in the event.
The Buccaneers will now enjoy time off before returning to action for the 2026 outdoor season. The team will split off for the first weekend with some heading to Charlotte for the 49er Classic from Thursday, March 19 through Saturday, March 21 with others staying in town for the Buccaneer Invitational on Friday, March 20.
