The No. 22 Nationally Ranked Dillard Men’s Track & Field Program Off To Compete in the Carey Last Chance Meet This Weekend

New Orleans – The No. 22 nationally ranked Dillard's men's outdoor track & field program competes for the final time during the regular season as the program travels to Hattiesburg, Miss. to participate in the Carey Last Chance Meet starting at 11 a.m. on Friday, May 13.

Earlier this week, Dillard's men's program was voted No. 11 in the South Region in the weekly USTFCCCA Poll that was released on May 9. The program followed that up by earning 22nd place in the USTFCCCA's National Poll. It was the seventh straight week that the program has been ranked in the top-25.

The program has the second-ranked 4x100 relay group in the country (Willie McCaulley, Cody Branch, Kaleb McClendon and Jamaal Morris Jr.), the third-fastest 100m sprinter (Cody Branch), the fourth-ranked 200m sprinter (Jamaal Morris Jr.), fourth-ranked 200m sprinter in the country (Jamaal Morris Jr.), the seventh-ranked 100m sprinter (Jamaal Morris Jr.), the ninth-ranked 200m sprinter (Cody Branch), the 13th-fastest 4x400m team (Cody Branch, Jamaal Morris Jr., Benjamin Todd and Kaleb McClendon), the 16th-ranked 400m sprinter (Cody Branch), the 22nd-ranked 400m sprinter (Jamaal Morris Jr.) and the 29th-ranked triple jumper (Julian Williams) in the country.

The competition list for this week at the Carey Last Chance Meet includes Benjamin Todd (400m), Cody Branch (4x100 relay), Kaleb McClendon (4x100 relay), Willie McCaulley (4x100 relay), Christopher Watson (400m and high jump), Joshun Noel (400m), Julian Williams (triple jump, long jump), Jamaal Morris Jr. (4x100 relay), James Ray Pennington III (100m, 200m).

Last time out at the 2022 Penn Relays on April 29, Jamaal Morris Jr. placed 17th overall to lead Dillard's men's outdoor track & field program at Franklin Field.

Morris finished 17th overall of 29 competitors in running a 10.57. His run placed his fifth overall in the fourth heat.

The 4x100 relay team of Willie McCaulley, Cody Branch, Kaleb McClendon and Morris were not able to compete at the meet due to injury.

Last time the entire team competed was at the 2022 GCAC Outdoor Track & Field Championships from April 22-23, Dillard won the conference titled for the second consecutive season and the fourth time since 2010. The program ended up 286.5 points. Over the two days of competitions, DU had two NAIA automatic qualifiers, set a school record in the 100m, won 15 events and totaled 40 All-GCAC selections. The program also had both the GCAC Most Outstanding Track Athlete at the meet in Joshun Noel and the GCAC Most Outstanding Field Athlete of the meet in Nobie Harris.

Cody Branch won a pair of individual events and also was part of event winning 4x100 relay team. Branch won the 100m with a 10.33. The mark was a school record and an NAIA automatic qualifier. He won the 400m with a 49.30. Branch was also part of the 4x100 relay team along with James Ray Pennington III, Kaleb McClendon and Jamaal Morris Jr.

Morris finished second in the 100m with an NAIA automatic qualifying mark of 10.40m. He also placed second in the 400m with a 49.51.

Johnathan Kitchen won the discus with a 35.80m. He also won the shot put with a 11.67m.

Zion Gennuso won the hammer with 38.99m.

Nobie Harris earned the javelin title with a 37.85m.

Joshun Noel won three events at the championships as he took the 1500m title with 4:37.17, the 800m crown with a 2:03.52 and the 5000m championship with an 18:44.10. He was also part of the 4x800 group along with DeVonte Williams, Daniel Martinez and Malik Durant that finished second with an 8:30.03.

Christopher Watson won the high jump with a 1.93m.

Julian Williams won both the long jump and the triple jump. Williams had a leap of 6.24m in the long jump and a jump of 13.84m in the triple jump.

The 4x400 relay team of Benjamin Todd, Christopher Watson, Kaleb McClendon and Jamaal Morris Jr. recorded the event's top time with a 3:24.01.

Other All-GCAC performers for Dillard at the meet include: Nobie Harris (2nd – hammer – 30.29), DeVonte Williams (2nd – 1500m – 4:39.85), Jordan Yates (3rd – 110m hurdles – 15.77), Kaleb McClendon (3rd – 100m – 10.80), Kaleb McClendon (2nd – 200m – 22.47), DeVonte Williams (3rd – 800m – 2:04.82), Malik Durant (3rd – 5000m – 19:40.11), Benjamin Todd (2nd – high jump – 1.83m), Christopher Watson (3rd – long jump – 6.03m), Datjuan Harris (3rd – triple jump – 12.55m), Nobie Harris (2nd – shot put – 11.60m), Zion Gennuso (3rd – shot put – 10.99m).

Next, Dillard's men's program will send a delegation of competitors to Gulf Shores, Alabama for the 2022 NAIA Outdoor Track & Field National Championships from May 25-27.
           
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