Greenville, SC – The Conference Carolinas men's outdoor track & field head coaches picked the University of Mount Olive to win an 11th consecutive and 13th overall conference championship in the 2025 preseason poll released on Thursday afternoon.
The Trojans collected 151 points and 8-of-13 first-place votes to edge Converse University who received 140 points and the remaining five first-place nods. Last season, the Trojans of the University of Mount Olive claimed the Conference Carolinas championship title. They will bring in two graduate students in Holden Gerth and Dominic Nutter to help anchor their field events. The Valkyries of Converse finished last season in sixth place. However, just weeks ago at the Conference Carolinas Indoor Track & Field Championship, the Valkyries warded off the Trojans to claim their first ever Indoor Track & Field title.
UNC Pembroke came in third with 137 points, followed by Belmont Abbey College with 125 points. Southern Wesleyan University rounded out the top five with 101 points.
Lees-McRae College earned 94 points to take the sixth spot and was followed by Emmanuel University (84), North Greenville University (82), Shorter University (64), Barton College (55), Erskine College (48), King University (45), Young Harris College (37) and Francis Marion University (20).
Southern Wesleyan took seventh place at the Conference Carolinas Outdoor Track & Field Championship last season. A couple weeks ago, the Warriors were able to take a fifth finish at the Indoor Track & Field Championship. They will be looking to Ronan O'Neill, who was named the Indoor Track Runner of the Year earlier this season, to build off of his successful Cross Country and Indoor Track & Field season. The Warriors will also return Nate Hill (mid-distance) and will bring on the freshman talents of Happy Lea (hurdles/throws).
The Warriors kicked off the outdoor season on March 1 as they hosted the Susan Rouse Invitational. They competed at Columbia International on March 7-8, and will look to compete at the Montreat College Open on March 21-22. Southern Wesleyan will host their second meet of the 2025 season on March 28-29 as they welcome in many teams to compete in the Gotta Run Invitational. The 2025 Conference Carolinas Outdoor Track & Field Championships will be held on April 24-26 at Doug Shaw Memorial Stadium in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.
