WINSTON SALEM, N.C. (Dec. 3) – The University of Mount Olive men's and women's track & field program registered eight Conference Carolinas qualifying standards on Sunday afternoon while competing at the JDL Early Bird Invitational.

In the weight throw, the Trojans featured five athletes who achieved the conference standard on the opening weekend of the indoor campaign. On the men's side, sophomore Tyrese Lavender placed third overall in a field of over 30 throwers after recording a personal-best mark of 15.51 meters (50-10.75 feet). He holds the fourth-best distance in the Southeast Region and moves to eighth all-time in program history in distance. Junior Micah Harrison finished sixth overall on Sunday following a toss of 15.31 meters (50-2.75 feet), the ninth-best mark in team history. Additionally, freshman Matthew Heywood qualified for the league championship with a distance of 13.71 meters (44-11.75 feet).

On the women's side, junior Katlyn Parrish placed ninth overall in the weight throw with a personal-best mark of 14.50 meters (47-7.0 feet) on her second attempt. The distance also was the ninth-best in UMO history. Senior Rolanda Desir-Moreau hit the conference standard with a toss of 14.16 meters (46-5.5 feet). Additionally, Parrish recorded a league qualifying mark in the shot put with a distance of 11.12 meters (36-5.75 feet) to finish eighth overall.

Junior Nicholas Cloud placed fifth in the shot put and hit the conference mark during the season-opening weekend with a toss of 14.84 meters (48-8.25 feet). He holds the third-best distance in the Southeast Region this season.

Freshman Princeton Loch reached the league qualifying standard with a distance of 13.36 meters (43-10.0 feet) in his first appearance with the program.

The Trojans are now idle for over a month before opening the 2024 portion of their schedule at the Mondo College Invitational on Jan. 13 in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.