Hammonds Wins MEC Heptathlon, Concord Sixth After Second Day of Competition

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Freshman Cassidy Hammonds of the Concord University women's track & field became the champion of the heptathlon at the Mountain East Conference Outdoor Championships during day two action at Mylan Park Monday.

Concord is sixth as a team with 28 points after two days of competition. However, CU is just 11 points out of third in a tightly-bunched field.

Hammonds scored 4,635 points and edged three-time defending champion Samantha Cash of West Virginia Wesleyan by 15 points to capture Concord's first MEC individual championship in either the indoor or outdoor championships since graduate student Emily Wallace in the indoor mile in 2022. It was CU's first heptathlon title since 2008.

Hammonds' 4,635 points broke Karachi Mbagwu's school record of 4,188 points from the 2008 season when she won the conference heptathlon crown. In the top three throughout the seven events, Hammonds took over first place at the conclusion of the javelin throw—the sixth event—after a mark of 32.67 meters. She finished second behind Cash in the 800-meter run, but Hammonds' time of 2:20.76 was good enough to hold off Cash for the title.

Along with the heptathlon conference championship, Hammonds broke her own school record in the long jump as she marked 5.70 meters and finished third. And the Lee, Virginia native also qualified for Monday's final in the 100-meter hurdles as she finished fourth in the prelims with a time of 15.07 seconds, also a school record by 0.01 seconds. The previous record was set by Meagan Savioli in 2012.

In other prelim action Monday evening, Wallace claimed the eighth and final spot in the 800-meter final with a time of 2:18.65. Junior Emma Jenkins finished 16^th in a time of 2:25.94.

Junior Kalyn Williams crossed 12^th in the 100-meter dash with a showing of 12.76 seconds.

Freshman Kate Kelly just missed scoring in the 3,000-meter steeplechase as she placed ninth in a time of 12:35.77. Sophomore Charlotte McGinnis clocked 13:04.05 and finished 13^th.

Junior Lilly Jackson was 12^th in the long jump with a leap of 5.13 meters.

The final day at the MEC Championships begins 11:00 a.m. Tuesday with field events followed by running events at 1:00 p.m.