Saturday, February 19, 2011

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. – ETSU earned their fourth Atlantic Sun Indoor Track & Field Championship with 152 points finishing narrowly ahead of defending champ Kennesaw State. Campbell’s Diego Lawrence claimed the Championship’s Most Valuable Performer nod by earning 32 points coming in the 60-meter dash (2nd), 200m dash (2nd) and men’s triple jump (3rd).

The Buccaneers claimed first-place finishes in the heptathlon, 60m hurdles and 800m run in the final day of competition and four throughout the championship. ETSU previously earned the A-Sun indoor titles in 2006, 2007 and 2009. Jarrod Burton, the Most Outstanding Field Performer, posted a second-place finish in the weight throw and surpassed the meet record in the event with his toss of 19.46m. ETSU head coach Dave Walker received the Coach of the Year honor.

The Owls earned victories from the 4x400m relay team and Anjoun Armaly in the triple jump and Cameron Zeman in the high jump. Both Armaly and Zeman set A-Sun meet records with a distance of 15.11m and height of 2.14m. This marks the fourth-straight season in which the Bucs and Owls finished 1-2 in the final standings with both teams earning two titles.

Campbell took runner-up honors with 111 points for their highest-point production since the inaugural meet in 2006. The Camels’ Rashad Campbell raced to victories in the 60m and 200m en route to the Most Outstanding Track Performer award.

The fourth-place team, USC Upstate scored 90 points, a program record, while UNF also registered a program-high in points with 81 to secure fifth place, a school record.

Belmont’s Erick Kigen earned the Most Outstanding Freshman Performer after helping the Bruins to second place in the DMR and placing third in the 3,000m run and fifth in the 800m and mile runs. The Bruins finished just ahead of Lipscomb for sixth place with 50 points.

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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 five 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.