Tait Headlines 'Dogs' Strong Week At USA Invitational

Thursday, April 13

Mobile, Ala.

All Day

Samford University

South Alabama Invitational

Samford's Emmanuel Tait, shown here during the indoor season, proved to be a top competitor Saturday at the South Alabama Invitational.

Tait Headlines 'Dogs' Strong Week At USA Invitational

4.15.17 | Track and Field

Samford earns 15 top-five finishes throughout the competition

Final Results

MOBILE, Ala. -- Samford true freshman Emmanuel Tait starred for the Bulldogs' track and field team at the 2017 South Alabama Invitational on Saturday as the speedy native of Alabaster ran to the championship title of the 100-meter dash with a time of 10.50. He also placed third in the 110-meter hurdles (14.24) as Samford earned 15 top-five finishes at the 16-team event.

Starting Thursday with the opening rounds of the decathlon and heptathlon, Samford squared off against opponents from 15 schools at the Jaguar Track. The final events were concluded Saturday evening.

Tait shined for the Bulldogs in the sprints Saturday, while the Samford dominated the women's high jump competition. The Bulldogs earned three of the top-four finishes in the event, while sophomore Selena Popp placed second with a height of 1.69 meters. Carrie Neill and Courtney Prengaman both finished tied for fourth place with identical marks of 1.64 meters.

Popp, Samford's talented native of Hixon, Tennessee, also earned a second-place finish in the heptathlon. Popp compiled a total score of 4,928 in the competition, while her teammate, Erin Hines, earned a top-10 finish with an eighth-place tally of 4,428.

In the women's pole vault, Samford competitors tallied fourth and eighth-place finishes. The Bulldogs' Lindsey Kessler cleared a height of 3.65 meters to take fourth place, while Sarah Lee took eighth with a tally of 3.50 meters.

The Samford women's team continued its stellar performances Saturday in the 400-meter hurdles. The Bulldogs earned two of the event's top-six finishes and were led by junior Victoria Wicks' third-place performance. Wicks sped through the competition in a time of 1:02.58, while freshman Lauren Beard took sixth place with a finish time of 1:05.67.

In the men's decathlon event, Samford senior Jay Vines earned third place with a total score of 5,980. Vines was joined in the top five by teammate Hunter Schlatter. Schlatter, only a freshman, accumulated a score of 4,738 to finish strong in the competition.

The Bulldogs' Maggie Johnston continued her brilliant freshman season Saturday with a second-place performance in the discus. Samford's native of Macon, Georgia, posted a distance of 47.68 meters to earn the finish. Additionally, the Bulldogs' sophomore Camille Caldwell placed ninth in the event with a throw of 41.77 meters.

Samford's Tonia McKinley and Abigail Cutcliffe both registered top-10 performances in the 100-meter dash Saturday. McKinley earned a fifth-place finish with a time of 11.87, while Cutcliffe placed 10^th at 12.05.

As usual, the men's pole vault competition proved to be a boon for the Bulldogs. Samford's All-Southern Conference standout Tray Oates tallied a second-place finish with a height of 5.27 meters, while Gavin Gautreau placed fourth at 4.97 meters and Chris Thrasher took seventh by clearing 4.97 on a later attempt.

Sophomore Keyth Fightmaster jumped a height of 2.01 meters in the men's high jump and garnered a third-place finish for Samford in the event.

The Bulldogs also finished well in the long jump Saturday. Junior standout Marquis Barnes posted a distance of 7.50 meters to claim second place, while freshman Jon Waarvik finished sixth with a tally of 6.95 meters in the event.

In addition to Samford and the homestanding South Alabama Jaguars, the top-notch field at the South Alabama Invitational also included either individuals or full squads from Mississippi State, Southern Miss, Louisiana-Lafayette, Troy, UAB, Southern, Southeastern Louisiana, New Orleans, Mobile, Mississippi Valley State, Meridian Community College, Jacksonville State, Columbus State and Alabama A&M.

The Samford University track and field teams will next be in action Friday through Sunday of next week as the Bulldogs travel to Auburn to compete in the 2017 Tiger Classic, which will be held at the Hutsell-Rosen Track on the campus of Auburn University.

For results, schedule updates, breaking news and links to all of your favorite articles featuring the Bulldogs, please follow @SamfordTrack and @Samford_Sports on Twitter.

Final Results