INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. --- The answer: eggs, donuts, roses, cupcakes, golf balls, ODAC indoor track & field national championship qualifiers. The question: what are things that are commonly packaged as a dozen.
For the second straight year, 12 stars from ODAC member schools were announced as qualifiers for the Division III Indoor Track & Field Championships slated for next weekend, March 13-14, at the Birmingham CrossPlex in Birmingham, Ala. Four league institutions will be sending at least one star south in Bridgewater College (1), University of Lynchburg (6), Roanoke College (1), and Washington and Lee University (4).
Half of those standouts will be wearing Hornets gear. On the men's side, Lamont Victoria is the lone two-event qualifier of the ODAC's contingent as he will be competing in the 60-meter dash and high jump. Jamarcus Brown will be joining Victoria in the latter event, an impressive feat considering he spent the majority of this season earning ODAC Defensive Player of the Year honors on Lynchburg's men's basketball squad. Multi-time All-American Chasen Hunt will take to the track in the 3K, while Alex Jordan will see if he can break an ODAC 5K record for a fourth time this season. He has already reset the overall standard twice and the championship benchmark once. The final men's competitor from Lynchburg is Micah Leech, who will compete in the seven-event heptathlon. Another multi-time All-American, Kacey Kelly, carries the Hornets' women's team banner to Alabama.
Washington and Lee colors will be donned by four stars. Jesma Evans will compete in the 400-meter dash, an event in which she set the ODAC championship record last week. Camille Gillum has twice earned All-America honors in the high jump. She'll try again next weekend with her entry mark just 0.02 meters off the ODAC all-time record. Bailey Hedgemon is heading to her first national meet after qualifying in the weight throw. ODAC Rookie of the Year Macky Gartley represents the WLU men's team as the ODAC overall and championship record-holder in the 60-meter hurdles.
Abby Mikolay is also a dual record-holder, resetting the conference's shot put overall and championships standard a week ago. She is the first women's qualifier from Bridgewater since former speedster Adalia Coleman won the 60-meter dash in 2023. Roanoke's logo will be showcased by Elias Ammon, who qualified in the 800-meter run at the final qualifier hosted by Tufts this weekend.
Below is a breakdown of the athletes and the events in which they will feature.