Greenville Track and Field and their fine coaching staff brought home remarkable honors to Greenville University after participating in the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Meet that was held at Principia College on Saturday, February 27. As per Brian Patton, “We won both meets handily and had several events we went 1-2-3 individually.” Without a doubt, Coach Patton and his staff beamed with pride at the men’s and women’s accomplishments. The final scores were proven beyond doubt that the Panthers were on fire. Greenville dazed their competition by surpassing the final scores of double or more of their opponents. Greenville University’s men’s team took 1st with a score of an astonishing 218 points. Webster University placed 2nd with a score of 78. Iowa Wesleyan University placed 3rd with a score of 60. Greenville University women’s team took 1st with an amazing 178 points. Principia College placed 2nd with a score of 89. Fontbonne University placed 3rd with a score of 71. More importantly, Greenville’s coaching staff’s dedication to supporting these fine athletes brought themselves honor on this triumphant day as well. Patton expressed proudly, “Our staff won Coaching Staff of the Year for both the men and women.”
Certainly, the prominent day brought impressive scores and a 1st place winning to the women’s team. Patton expressed his excitement over the women’s accomplishments. Patton stated proudly, “The women over-performed with their 178-point performance. I thought we could score 155 points based on meet entries, so I am really proud of their performances.” Cayden Sharp and Hannah Williams contributed immensely to the outstanding score of 1st place. Williams captured gold in the 3000-meter run of the SLIAC competition. Furthermore, Olivia Mansfield added honors to her team by being named the 2021 SLIAC Indoor Track Newcomer of the Year. Most importantly, Sharp took home five gold medals in the long jump, triple jump, 60-meter hurdles, 200-meter dash, and 60-meter dash. After catching her breath, Sharp deservingly named the 2021 SLIAC Track Athlete of the Year. Sharp’s individual 56 points added immensely to the women’s breathtaking 178-point victory.
Clearly, the men’s team added exceptional athleticism to bring home the 2021 SLIAC Indoor title as well. An astounding 218 points were contributed by Greenville University’s competitive men’s team. The 1-2-3 winnings of Wesley Kile, Dylan Webster, and Thomas Harris brought prestige to their performances at the SLIAC conference. The accumulation of gold medals went to several of the fine athletes. Hunter Matthews (high jump), Di’Mond Salmond (triple jump), Maurice Radtke (shot put), and Ben Schuette (weight throw), Jared Beyers (400-meter dash), and Gianna Estrada (1-mile run) were the Greenville gold medalists. In addition, distinguished titles added to this SLIAC championship went to Wesley Kile as Field Newcomer of the Year and Gianni Estrada as the Track Newcomer of the Year.
Sharp sincerely expressed her thoughts of this glorious day for the Greenville Panthers. She was super excited to be able to go out and compete after recently contracting COVID. She was nervous of how she would perform, but she was glad she was able to come back strong, do well, and score a lot of points for the team. Sharp thought the conference meet could not have gone any better for the women. She truthfully stated, “There were a lot of personal bests that day. We were able to take home a win as a team for the first time since I have been at Greenville.” Certainly, Sharp, the Greenville Track and Field athletes, and the coaching staff are blessed and thankful for their amazing accomplishments of the 2021 St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Indoor Track and Field Championship.
