Rylan Jordan wins SAC Track Athlete of the Year for outdoor season
ROCK HILL, S.C. – Carson-Newman men's track sprinter, Rylan Jordan (Johnson City, Tenn.) was won the South Atlantic Conference Track Athlete of the Year award, the league office announced Wednesday afternoon.
ROCK HILL, S.C. – Carson-Newman men's track sprinter, Rylan Jordan (Johnson City, Tenn.) was won the South Atlantic Conference Track Athlete of the Year award, the league office announced Wednesday afternoon.
"Massive congrats to Rylan for capping off a tremendous sophomore season being named Men's Southeast Region and South Atlantic Conference Track Athlete of the Year," head coach Kieran Showler-Davis said. "If everyone could see the work he put in this whole fall and spring, there was no denying him from having the successful season that he did. I'm very proud of him and his accomplishments."
Jordan earned three First-Team All-America honors at the NCAA DII Outdoor Championships. He was also named Southeast Region Men's Athlete of the Year by USTFCCA on Monday.
The sophomore contributed 13.5 points to Carson-Newman's 23-point total at the meet, where they finished 13th overall. He finished third in the 100 meters, 10.20 seconds, fourth in the 200 meters, 20.73 seconds, and ran the anchor leg in the Eagles' National Championship winning 4×100 relay, 39.30 seconds.
3⃣9⃣.3⃣0⃣ to glory ��
— Carson-Newman Athletics (@CN_Eagles) May 24, 2026
Relive the moment when @CN_Track men were flying to the natty #TalonsUp x @CN_Track pic.twitter.com/DwK49g7fEZ
"It feels great to recieve an award like this," Jordan said. "The award means a lot to me and it shows great of a coach Kieran is."
It was the first ever relay national title for the Carson-Newman and fifth overall for the track program in the last four years. In 2025, Andre Morrison won the 60-meter dash in last season's Indoor National Championships, and Makanakaishe Charamba notched a trio of titles in 2023, taking the 200m in both the indoor and outdoor, in addition to the 100 meters. It is the seventh track title of the thirteen all-time individual national championships for C-N.
Earlier in the season, Jordan was named the SAC Championships Outstanding Track Athlete of the Meet for taking gold in the 200m and 4x100m, with a silver in the 100m.
The sophomore was one of the top sprinters across the country with his season-bests in 100m, 10.15 seconds, and 200m, 20.44 seconds, both ranking inside the top 10. His 200m time ended the year as the fastest mark in Division II.
The three-time national champion represents the fifth Eagle to win the outdoor award. Since the award's inception in 2019, Carson-Newman sprinters have won the award in five of the six seasons. Devon Moore was recognized the first two years (with a break in 2020 when outdoor season was cancelled due to CoVID and no award was handed out), while Makanakaishe Charamba won the honor in back-to-back seasons, 2022 and 2023.
