YOUNGSTOWN, OHIO – Bethany showed out at the Presidents Athletic Conference Championships. The Bison were highlighted by thrower Alexis Mahaffey becoming a conference champion in the weight throw.
Mahaffey had the best throw of her career in her very last attempt. The senior "was so beyond anxious" up until her final throw. After launching a new record of 15.62 meters, Mahaffey told her throws coach that "if it was going to happen, it had to have happened on the last throw of [her] career."
The illustrious indoor throws journey for Mahaffey ended on a toss that put her even higher in the national rankings. She climbed to 58th in the country. Mahaffey's 15.62m toss cleared second place (14.63) by practically a full meter. The team leader also earned the conference recognition as Bethany's representative on the sportsmanship team.
The other Bison to elevate their position in the national rankings was Caliyph McClinton. He did so in multiple events, solidifying himself as #46 in the country in the 60 meter and #76 in the 200 meter.
McClinton placed top three in both events. His 6.90 second sprint in the 60m dash placed second among the conference. McClinton rebroke his own school record with that time. His 21.91 in the 200m was a season best, improving McClinton to a third place finish in the 2025 championships.
The speedster earned even more hardware in the 4x400 relay. Serving as the anchor, McClinton joined Daryes'e Fleming, Dave Rene, and Charbilot Marcelin to post a season best time of 3:32.20. The quad finished as the conference runner ups.
The 4x400 team saw success in their individual events, earning multiple podium finishes.
Rene had a rocky start to his prime event, fouling on his first two long jump attempts. He qualified for the finals with his final leap, sitting comfortably in second place. Rene improved his distance in his first finals attempt, leaping 6.59 meters and securing his silver medal
Fleming scored for his team in the 400m. He set a personal record time of 52.63 seconds. That time was good enough for an eighth place finish.
Senior Tsi Fofang went out with a bang in the 60m dash. Fofang smashed his personal record in the qualifier, then rebroke his personal record in the finals. The sprinter finished in fifth place with a time of 7.04 seconds.
Madison Donelson had a similar route in the 60m dash. Donelson qualified for the finals, then proceeded to smoke her own personal record by more than a full hundredth of a second. Her previous personal record was an 8.34, while her new best is her 8.23 that she ran in the finals. Donelson finished fifth. She almost scored in her other event (long jump), but lost the tiebreaker to bump her to ninth place.
Alexander Blair did not lose his tiebreaker for a podium finish. Instead, Blair shared the sixth place spot on the podium after posting a season best 1.83 meter leap.
The Bison had one more scorer. Jalen Britton shocked the competition on his very first throw, bursting onto the scene with a 12.31m toss in the weight throw. His throw held up the rest of the event for an eighth place finish.
Bethany will bring a select few Bison to the Last Chance Invite to attempt to qualify for nationals. That will be at Shenandoah's indoor track facility on March 7th.
This article was written by Assistant Director of Athletic Communications Colin Herb. If you believe that there are mistakes in information-- or have a separate thought relating to the event in the article-- please email cherb@bethanywv.edu for any corrections/comments.
