Lincoln sets AAC Outdoor record, repeats as triple jump champ

BLACK MOUNTAIN, N.C. - With two conference titles already under his belt, Myles Lincoln had more on his mind than simply winning another triple jump championship Saturday.

The Union College junior leapt his way onto the podium and into the Appalachian Athletic Conference record books, taking first place with a meet-record distance of 15.00 meters on the final day of the AAC Outdoor Championships.

His heroics highlighted a seventh-place, 30-point performance by the Bulldog men's team. Union's women were ninth with seven points.

Already firmly in first place heading into his third jump of the day, Lincoln got just enough elevation to squeak by the previous record of 14.98 meters, set by Jamaal Parker of King (Tenn.) all the way back in 2007.

Lincoln was so strong Saturday, both his second (14.90) and third (14.79) best jumps were further than the 14.71-meter top jump of Montreat's Dustin Blevins, the event runner-up.

"Myles made it very clear what he wanted to do and he went out and did it," Union coach Chris Jelks said.

Initially, Lincoln wasn't blown away by his final mark, saying he was hoping to top his career-best jump of 15.22 meters, set in 2021. But when the announcement of his meet record was made, he says "it definitely changed my attitude."

This marks the second year in a row Lincoln won the AAC Outdoor triple jump title, doing so at 14.87 meters last season. It's the third conference win of his college career, as he also took home an indoor crown in 2021.

He now turns his attention towards the Outdoor National Championships in Marion, Ind. on May 24-26. This will be his sixth career appearance at a national event, the first five of which produced All-American finishes.

Lincoln will see a lot of familiar faces from March's Indoor Nationals, where he took seventh place with a jump of 14.80. And with a month to train, he's envisioning a better finish this time around.

"I know what they're going to bring, and I'm just going to bring something more," Lincoln said. "I'm really excited with what I did today. I'm not finished yet, though."

ELSEWHERE IN MEN'S COMPETITION

Chandler Mills had Union's best finish on the track side, placing third in the 5,000-meter race walk. The freshman finished in 31:13.42.

Jayden Henderson also got the Bulldogs two points in two events. He had a seventh-place run of 1:01.82 in the 400 hurdles, then teamed with D'Mauri Owens, Alex Garcia and Chris Thomas to take seventh in 3:29.42 in the 4x400 relay.

WOMEN

Teychiana Dornan built on her sixth-place finish in long jump Friday with a fifth-place distance of 10.99 meters in triple jump on Saturday. Dornan reached her high mark on the second jump of the day.

It was Dornan's second-best jump of the season, topped only by her 11.09-meter finish at last weekend's Electric City Invitational.