Birmingham, Ala. – Furman won four events Monday on the first day of the 2024 Southern Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championships at Samford's Shauna Yelton Field at The Samford Track and Soccer Stadium.

Senior Cameron Ponder won the men's 3,000-meter steeplechase while senior Nicole Matysik followed with a victory in the women's 3,000-meter steeplechase. Freshman Owen Shifflett and junior Lily Feingold followed by closing the opening day with wins in the men's and women's 10,000-meters, respectively.

Ponder, a native of Winston-Salem, N.C., won the men's 3,000-meter steeplechase for the third time in his career, and second in two years, after crossing the finish line with a time of 8:52.32. The Paladins posted the top three times in the event with junior Casey Burr finishing second at 9:22.03 and sophomore Colton Kempney following in third place with a 9:25.83.

Matysik captured the women's 3,000-meter steeplechase after posting a time of 10:40.45. The Key West, Fla., native won the event for the second time in her career with the first coming in 2022.

Furman recorded the top three times in the men's 10,000-meters led by Shifflett, who hails from Free Union, Va., who won with a mark of 30:57.53. Junior Nick Goldstein was second at 31:06.21 and sophomore Luke Taylor placed third with a 31:17.18.

A Mt. Pleasant, S.C., native, Feingold vaulted from third to first over the final five laps in the women's 10,000-meters to give the Paladins their fourth win in the event over the past five seasons. Feingold crossed the finish line in 36:55.66 with sophomore Emma Jones coming in second at 37:14.20. Senior Kylie Wittman placed 15^th in 40:20.96.

In the men's 800-meters, junior Matthew Smith qualified for the finals after finishing with the second-best time of 1:51.43.

Furman had three qualifiers for the finals of the women's 800-meters in senior Megan Marvin, sophomore Camryn Wennersten, and senior Beth Donnelly. Marvin had the top qualifying time with a 2:12.06 while Wennersten was second at 2:13.43. Donnelly qualified seventh with a time of 2:16.96. Junior Callie Harper was 12^th with a time of 2:18.46.

The Paladin men currently sit second in the team standings with 48 points while the women are in fourth place after compiling 28 points.

Furman had three All-Freshman Team selections on day one in Feingold, Kempney, and Shifflett.

The meet will conclude on Tuesday with the resumption of the decathlon at 11 a.m., with the heptathlon resuming at 11:15 a.m. Field events begin with the men's shot put and women's discus finals at 1:15 p.m. and the men's 4x100-meter relay gets the track events started at 3 p.m. The day concludes with the men's and women's 4x400-meter relays at 6:25 p.m. and 6:35 p.m., respectively, followed by the awards ceremony. Thirty events will crown champions on the final day of the meet.