Staff report
The 2025 spring sports season is wrapping up for a handful of Truett McConnell University athletes.
Last week inYpsilanti, Michigan, the TMU women's golf team took part in the NAIA National Championship tournament and this week four members of the school's track team is in Marion, Ind., for the NAIA Outdoor Track & Field Championships.
The NAIA track meet kicked off Wednesday and will wrap up on Friday. TMU will be represented by four athletes – Myesha Hall, Connor Morgan, Elijah Goddard and Dylan Simms.
Hall, one of the school's most decorated track athletes, will compete in three events in the women's division in the long jump, triple jump and 100-meter dash. Morgan will compete in the men's 800-meter race, Goddard will run in the men's 100-meter and 200-meter races, and Sims will compete in the men's shot put.
Hall, the 2022 NAIA Long Jump National Champion and four-time NAIA All-American, had nine first place finishes in the regular season in the long jump, triple jump and 100-meter dash. Hall is currently leading the NAIA in the long jump (6.30 meters) and is eighth in the triple jump (12.08 meters) in the TFRRS rankings ahead of the national meet.
Morgan also had a pair first place finishes and numerous Top 10 finishes in the 800-meter event during the regular. At the Joe Walker Invitational, Morgan punched his fourth consecutive ticket to the NAIA meet with a time of 1:51.99, the NAIA B Standard.
Goddard, the Appalachian Athletic Conference's Men's Track Athlete of the Year, has had a successful first season as a Bear, recording four first place finishes in the regular season including both the 100-meter and 200-meter conference titles.
Simms, the AAC Men's Field Athlete of the Year, has also had an incredible regular season recording four first place finishes and multiple Top 10 finishes, and won the men's shot put title at the AAC championships. Simms has made TMU track and field history this season as the first male thrower to compete in the NAIA championship meet.
Last week, the Lady Bears season came to an end at the NAIA national tournament.
The Lady Bears failed to make the cut in the national event, which was won by British Columbia by 24 strokes over Keiser University. British Columbia's Jessica Ng won the individual national title, posting a four-round score of 283 (5-under par).
For TMU, Brianna Bassett had the team's top performance over the first two rounds, posting scores of 79 and 77. Gracie Doke posted rounds of 82 and 75, while Audrey Grace Holder finished with rounds of 76 and 82. Sylken November had rounds of 81 and 81, and Jala Stamey rounded out the lineup with rounds of 82 and 81.