Friday, February 26, 2010

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. – On the first day of the 2010 Atlantic Sun Championships from the ETSU/MSHA Athletic Center, the ETSU Bucs finished with 64 points, set two conference records and an NCAA provisional mark out of the five events held in Johnson City, Tenn. Their closest competition came from Kennesaw State, who closed Friday with a second-place 41 points,

Competition began in the morning with the first four events of the heptathlon. Belmont’s Matt Fiedler leads a pack of 11, with 2,728 points. The junior took the lead by posting the top mark in the high jump, clearing 1.92 meters. A pack of Buccaneers will attempt to chase down Fiedler, including 2009 champion, Nic Chernikow, who sits in third. Chernikow landed the top scores in the 60-meter dash and in the shot put.

Lipscomb claimed its first-ever win in a relay, capturing the final track event of the day, the distance medley relay. The quartet of Isaiah Greer, Bobby Bassett, Andrew Jones and Ryan Chastain raced into first place with a time of 10:05.55 to set a conference record, followed by Kennesaw State and ETSU to claim second and third place.

The men’s 3000-meter run saw USC Upstate’s Gilbert Kemboi pass ETSU’s Kenneth Rotich with a league record-setting time of 8:23.37. Last season’s Most Outstanding Track Performer, Ben Ronoh of ETSU, placed fifth in the event after notching a first-place finish in the same event at last year’s Indoor Championship.

In the preliminary heats of the 60-meter dash, two-time A-Sun Runner of the Week Duronal Monal, from ETSU, set a conference record by running an NCAA qualifying mark of 6.71 seconds. In the pole vault, an ETSU duo of junior Matt Baum and senior Jordan Briggs secured the gold and silver, while Kennesaw State’s Aaron Chamblee received the bronze with a leap of 4.45-meters.

Campbell’s Robert Brunson picked up an individual title in the long jump with a recorded mark of 7.07-meters, just over one-tenth of a meter farther than his closest competitor, teammate Diego Lawrence at 6.96-meters. In the final field event of the day, Kennesaw State’s Joshua McNair edged out Belmont’s Joe Frye to win his second shot put title. McNair’s best at 16.52-meters ranks as the second-best in Championship history

The 2009 championship will continue on Saturday at 8:30 a.m. with the conclusion of the heptathlon.

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The Atlantic Sun Conference is an 11-member league committed to Building Winners for Life. The A-Sun stands for achievement with integrity in both the academic and athletic arenas, with a focus on the balance between the two for our student-athletes. Headquartered in Macon, Ga., the A-Sun boasts six of the top eight media markets in the Southeast. The A-Sun includes a blend of the most prestigious and dynamic private and public institutions in the region: Belmont University, Campbell University, East Tennessee State University, Florida Gulf Coast University, Jacksonville University, Kennesaw State University, Lipscomb University, Mercer University, University of North Florida, University of South Carolina Upstate and Stetson University.