Simms, Honor finish strong at Big South track championship

By David Thackham

thackhamd@mytjnow.com

Although the final results went against them, the Winthrop Eagles track and field team made sure not to leave the Big South Championships empty handed in Clemson, S.C., last Friday. While the Liberty Flames men’s and women’s teams continued their dominant success, the Eagles gained positive results from sprinters Keary Simms and Sharon Honor, as well as an admirable finish from freshman Jeanne Stroud. 

The Flames led in the team standings by the end of the Thursday preliminaries and did not let up their consistency, blazing ahead of the pack by picking up wins in the men’s 500 m run, men’s mile run and the women’s 1600 m relay, among others. The teams won in the women’s tournament by accruing 179.50 points, more than seven times the number points the Winthrop women (ninth place out of nine teams) made of 23.50. The men, however, showed more resiliency to finish tied for 5th with 56 points throughout the events. 

Winthrop cross country and track coach, Ben Paxton, was satisfied, despite the standings. 

“I’m happy with the team, but I thought we could have done better,” Paxton said. “We did the things we thought we would accomplish, so I’m pleased.”

Winthrop’s day began slowly as Eagle runner Drew Harris never got going in the men’s mile event to finish 12th overall with a time of 4:38. However, as the events got shorter, the fortune got better for the garnet and gold. Honor barely missed a podium finish in the women’s 60-meter hurdles final with a time of 8:81 to gain fourth place. Her finals time was .07 seconds faster than her preliminary time. 

Simms picked up Winthrop’s one-and-only event win in the men’s version of the 60 m hurdles, with a blistering time of 8:05 seconds. The time was only .28 seconds slower than the Big South conference record held by former Winthrop athlete Kandrick Cooper set in 2007. 

Simms was confident going into the event. 

“I knew I had the advantage coming in and I wanted to finish the race as soon as I started it,” the senior said. “This year, I got stronger and faster, I just had to capitalize on my training, perfect my technique, to get over the hurdles and be as fast as possible.”

Meanwhile, freshman Kimberleigh Riggs impressed in the women’s pole vault, clearing a height of 3.45 m to score fifth place in the finals. 

Despite entering an atmosphere such as Clemson University, the Winthrop contingent was undaunted at the competitive nature of the Big South Championships. 

“Some people get scared of the pressure,” said cross-country runner Adam Freudanthal, “but it elevates us and makes us work harder.” “The bigger the environment the more competitive I am,” said Simms, Freudanthal’s teammate

Back on the track, senior Drew Franklin came close to victory with a time of just more than 50 seconds in the men’s 400 meters, while Adam Leroux placed fourth in the 800 m final, finishing with a time of just 1:57. 

In the heptathlon, senior Theo Facinoli had a quick start in the 1000 m race, but was passed on the final stretch to earn third-place. However, the Phoenix, Md. native was satisfied with his performance. 

“We’re a pretty small crew, so if we can pick up any points from events, it all helps,” he said. 

Honor continued her impressive day with a second-place finish in the women’s 200 m final. But the Winthrop women were altogether unsuccessful on Friday, as they could not uproot themselves from the bottom of the standings after Jeanne Stroud failed to protect an early lead and slipped to 10th place in the women’s 5000 meter race. 

“She [Stroud] is disappointed,” Paxton said, “but the girls in front of her are scholarship athletes, and she’s not. The schools are going out for the best talent they can, but she’s young, and I think she’s very good.”

The focus for Winthrop now lays outside as the weather warms and activities move outdoors in the Big South Conference.  

“I’m really excited to get to the outdoor schedule,” said Freudanthal, who also picked up all-conference academic honors in Clemson. “It’s good to be in our true element,” Paxton said.

“We’ll be taking most of our kids [and] see how they fare outdoors.  We’re definitely looking forward to that, it’s a big competition. 

The Eagles’ first outdoor challenge will be at the University of North Florida as Winthrop will take on the best from the Southeast at the Spring Break Open.