At the Big South Indoor Track and Field Championship, Winthrop’s Track Athletes broke records while pushing their bodies to the absolute limit
Omar Woods
Sports Editors
Sports
Since the beginning of the track and field program in 1993, Winthrop has produced and developed numerous athletes over the years. In these three decades, many of these athletes have recorded times and distances exceptional enough to be documented in the school track and field record book.
In the 2025-2026 season alone, the current track & field team has broken at least nine records so far in this season. At the most recent track meet, this pattern of shattering records was not broken.
On Feb. 27 and 28, the track and field team traveled to Tryon, N.C to compete in the Big South Conference Indoor Championship. The event hosted seven other teams who also compete in the Big South conference, making it eight total teams who were in direct competition with one another.
Nerves and emotions were running high for some of the track runners prior to the most important track meet thus far in the season.
Sophomore track runner Tristen Patterson, who was a part of the 4×400 relay team that won first place in the event, described his thoughts and feelings before the championships actually took place.
“It was very exciting and nerve racking being that it was my first Division 1 track meet with the Big South,” Patterson said. “It was definitely nerve racking the whole week just visualizing my race and just kind of being excited, nervous, and ready to go.”
These feelings of nervousness soon turned into excitement and determination when the track and field team stepped foot at the championship. Graduate student Kevin Brown, who was also a part of the gold winning 4×400 relay team and also ended up breaking the school record for the men’s 200 meter race, also explained his feelings when arriving at the meet.
“At the track meet as an old guy out there, it’s always exciting to get up and warm up because like we say during the week, that’s the hardest thing,” Brown said. “At the track meet, that’s the easy time. That’s where we have fun because the energy is there and we’re just ready to go.”
The track and field team showed out at the championships with many of the athletes breaking nearly decade old records and taking home metals.
The women’s distance medley relay team set a new school record while at the event. The runners for this team were senior Brianna Dooney, juniors Jayla Weeks and Kayah Marques and sophomore Anna Conrad.
Junior Jade Reese broke the third place women’s 200 meter dash school record while at the event. Senior Maurion Jamison also claimed a bronze medal in the men’s triple jump while attending the event.
The men’s 4×400 relay team not only took home gold but also broke the second place 4×400 relay school record. The runners for this team were sophomores Kendale Cooke and Tristen Patternson, junior Shane King and graduate student Kevin Brown.
For the 60 meter dash, Kevin Brown broke the second place school record while junior Micheal Boucher broke the third place school record. Freshman Raffael Craig II broke the second place school record for the men’s heptathlon.
Raffael Craig, the newly hired head track and field and cross country coach for Winthrop, detailed not only his thoughts regarding the successful championship and season so far, but also what he attributed mostly to the team’s growing prosperity.
“It really is just them buying into the training and committing totally to the work. Track isn’t easy,” Craig said. “We start in September and we don’t have a meet until December. Then you go on break and you come back so there’s a lot to it. But through it all, the kids stayed focused and kept their goals in mind.”
