MONTREAT, N.C.— The Montreat men's track and field team saw unprecedented levels of achievement during the 2022 season, culminating in the highest finish at the NAIA National Championships in program history. Shattering records, succeeding at the conference level and earning national recognition, the Cavaliers surpassed previous standards with an extraordinary year across 22 meets.
 
Beginning with 11 different competitions in the indoor season, the Cavs got to work in early December. Following appearances at three events in the fall semester, Montreat then started its spring slate with another trio of meets.
 
Throughout the indoor season, the Cavaliers bested six school records, added two Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) Athlete of the Week honors and qualified four athletes for nationals. Ethan Stamey and Hank Yelton collected the conference weekly awards for the team as Montreat cruised through the regular-season part of the schedule.
 
A busy month of February consisted of four meets for the Cavs, capped off by the AAC Indoor Championships in Winston-Salem, N.C. on the 17^th and 18^th of the month. Though the Cavaliers failed to claim a fifth consecutive indoor league title, there was much to be proud of in the way of accomplishments from the team at the championships.
 
Fifteen all-conference showings and four individual conference champions propelled Montreat to a team runner-up finish out of the 11 competing schools. Wyatt Wilson notched first place in the 3,000m racewalk, Dustin Blevins captured crowns in both the long jump and triple jump and Yelton took home the title in the 60m hurdles. Due to his two championships, Blevins took home AAC Indoor Field Athlete of the Year honors.
 
The accomplishments continued past the conference meet as four individuals qualified for the NAIA Indoor Championships in Brookings, S.D. Blevins captained the quartet with a pair of All-American honors in the long jump and triple jump, while Micah Matheson, Dylan Branch and Ethan Stamey also competed for the Cavs, who finished tied for 22^nd out of 105 teams.
 
For his prowess in the field, Blevins claimed the USTFCCCA South Region Indoor Field Athlete of the Year award. At nationals, the King, N.C. native accounted for all 14 of the Cavaliers' points due to his runner-up result in the triple jump and third-place finish in the long jump.
 
"We are very proud of Dustin, and he is a great example of the developmental nature of our program," mentioned Director of Cross Country and Track and Field, Jason Lewkowicz. "We have a fantastic coaching staff, and their combination of coaching knowledge, application and care for the student-athlete have created an environment where the student-athletes can thrive and meet their God-given potential. Dustin is a very hard worker and does all the little things to set him up for success, and, to be honest, he is still just scratching the surface of his potential. I believe the best is still yet to come for him despite his amazing accomplishments up to this point," Lewkowicz stated.
 
As impressive as the Cavaliers were during the indoor portion of the year, they dominated competition even more so in the outdoor season.
 
Over another 11 meets, Montreat shattered 11 school records, which resulted in a plethora of conference and national qualifiers. A busy start to the outdoor part of the schedule saw the Cavs compete in at least one meet, and as many as three meets, every week from March 18 through April 23. After starting the slate at Columbia International in the middle of March, the Cavaliers hosted the Montreat College Invitational before sending athletes to many NCAA DI and DII competitions, including ones at Duke University on April 7-8 and the University of South Carolina on April 16.
 
Throughout the season, the Cavaliers swept AAC weekly honors twice, while notching six total awards in a span of four weeks. JaJa Davis grabbed a pair of field awards for his excellence in throws, and Blevins won two awards for his brilliance in jumps. Ruchen Blaauw and Ethan Stamey each collected one conference weekly honor for times on the track.
 
Following the seven regular-season events, the Cavaliers traveled to Johnson City, Tenn. for the AAC Outdoor Championships. At the meet, Montreat overshadowed the other 13 institutions, recording 209 points thanks to six individual champions and 20 all-conference performances. Blevins tallied the long jump title, Yelton registered the championship in the 110m hurdles, Branch earned the 1,500m win, Matheson pole vaulted to first place, Wilson crossed first in the 5,000m racewalk and Blaauw finished the 800m race in first place to round out the conference champions. With the results, the Cavs notched 48.5 points more than second-place Truett McConnell to run away with the team title for the second year in a row. The coaching staff, led by Lewkowicz, was named AAC Men's Outdoor Coaching Staff of the Year for guiding the team to the tremendous feats.
 
"It was great to see the men bounce back and have a second straight dominating performance at the outdoor championships against the toughest competition from our conference to date," said Lewkowicz. "There were so many amazing performances over that weekend, and it was a true joy to witness. The men's team bought in to pursuing excellence, and we had some strong student leadership to help keep everyone moving in the right direction."
 
The Cavaliers then participated in two last chance meets prior to competition at the NAIA Outdoor Championships in Gulf Shores, Ala. from May 25 through May 27, where Montreat delivered a historic performance. Qualifying in eight events, the Cavs used five scoring All-American performances to jump 105 of the 111 competing teams, doubling the amount of All-Americans in the program's outdoor history in the process.
 
Blevins wrapped up his season with another pair of All-American showings, ending third in the triple jump and fourth in the long jump. Davis notched three team points with his sixth-place performance in the shot put, Branch finished as the national runner-up in the 1,500m event and Nathan Richards crossed third in the half marathon to conclude the All-American results and scoring for the Cavs, who collected 28 team points over three days. Caleb Silver, Nathan Stamey, Blaauw and Yelton also contributed for Montreat at nationals as the Cavaliers recorded their best-ever finish at a national championship in program history (6^th).
 
Lewkowicz noted, "The outdoor championships were an eye-opening experience for the coaching staff. We were very pleased with the end result and how all of our student-athletes competed." He continued, "That said, we also realized that we had a good meet, but not a great meet, and, if we can come back next year and fire on all cylinders, we are a team that could compete for a national championship. It is very motivating for all of us to know that we haven't hit a ceiling as a program, and we have the potential to keep moving the bar higher."
 
Overall, the outdoor section of the schedule allowed for additional hardware from the Cavaliers due to both athletic competition and academic achievement. In the final USTFCCCA Program of the Year rankings, the Cavs ended fifth thanks to a 16^th-place finish at cross country nationals in addition to the pair of track and field team results. Blevins repeated as the USTFCCCA South Region Men's Athlete of the Year during outdoor season, while assistant coach Britten Olinger was named the USTFCCCA South Region Men's Outdoor Assistant Coach of the Year. Academically, the Cavaliers earned USTFCCCA All-Academic Team distinction with a 3.0 GPA for the year, and the trio of Ethan Stamey, Nathan Stamey and Yelton recorded USTFCCCA All-Academic honors. Rounding out the award winners was Yelton, who claimed CoSIDA Academic All-District First Team recognition for his efforts academically and athletically in 2021-22.
 
Men's track and field attempts to progress further as a program in the 2023 season following its best campaign to date.