2022 CIAA Indoor Track & Field Championships Set to Kickoff Sunday in Winston-Salem, NC

CHARLOTTE – The Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) opens its 2022 Men’s and Women’s Indoor Track and Field Championships this weekend at JDL Fast Track in Winston-Salem, NC. The two-day event features ten women’s and eight men’s teams competing for CIAA titles. Competition begins Sunday, February 13 at 10:30 a.m. through Monday, February 14.

This year marks the 42nd year the CIAA has sponsored indoor track & field as a women’s sport and the 45th for the men.

Leading the way in the women’s field is Winston-Salem State, who has spent time ranked nationally by the US Track & Field/Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) and currently ranks no. 13 in the latest Atlantic Region poll. Led by head coach Antonio Wells, the Rams will be looking to capture their first CIAA indoor championship since 2016.

The Winston-Salem State women feature one of the top performers in Division II this indoor season in junior Kennedy Alexander. A native of Charlotte, NC, Alexander enters the conference championship meet with the nation’s 11th-best mark in the high jump. WSSU is also highlighted by Tamia McLean, who ranks fourth in the CIAA in the 400m and third in the 800m, and Vanessa Jones, who owns the CIAA’s top times in both the mile run and 3000 meters. 

WSSU will need to fend off a field that features five other teams ranked in the top 25 of the Atlantic Region by USTFCCCA to include Johnson C. Smith (14th), Claflin (18th), Lincoln (PA) (22nd), Virginia State (23rd) and Virginia Union (24th). Reigning CIAA champion FSU will look to become the first back-to-back women’s champion since Winston-Salem State achieved that feat back in 2016. 

On the men’s side, Johnson C. Smith comes into the championship meet as the conference’s top rated team in the Atlantic Region at no. 9. The Golden Bulls, led by interim head coach Antoine Sidberry, will look to unseat perennial power Saint Augustine’s, who has won at least a share of the last 23 conference titles. 

JCSU features several athletes ranked nationally in their events, including Justin Steele and Warren Williams. Steele is an NCAA Division II provisional qualifier in the 400-meter dash (top 20 nationally) and the CIAA’s top performer in the 200-meter dash while Williams is a NCAA provisional qualifier in the 60-meter hurdles (no. 4 in Division II).

In addition to JCSU, several other CIAA teams rank within the top 25 of the Atlantic Region to include Lincoln (PA) (17th), Virginia State (19th), Virginia Union (23rd), Claflin (24th), and Bowie State (25th), all of whom will be seeking to become the first team other than SAU to win a CIAA title outright since 1997 when Norfolk State took home the title. Virginia State won a share of the CIAA title in two of the last three championship meets (2018 and 2020, no championship in 2021 due to COVID).

Other top student-athletes with NCAA provisional qualifying performances entering the conference championship include Livingstone freshman Jalen Jones (60m) and Lincoln (PA) All-American Glenn Butler (long jump and high jump) on the men’s side as well as Fayetteville State junior Mya Johnson (60m hurdles) and Claflin freshman Zoe Adams (400m) in the women’s field.

Live results will be available at SnapTiming.com. Championship meet information and updates can also be found on the 2022 CIAA Indoor Track & Field Championships page. Spectators in attendance will be required to wear a mask at all times while indoors. 

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