Saturday, May 16, 2009

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - The ETSU men completed it quest for an unprecedented trifecta securing the 2009 Outdoor Track and Field Championship from UNF’s Hodges Arena, accumulating 198 points. Head Coach David Walker earned his second career A-Sun Outdoor Coach of the Year award.

After winning the Cross Country Championship in November and the Indoor Championship in February, the win gave the Bucs a sweep for the academic year, a feat never accomplished in the conference.

ETSU and Kennesaw State entered the second-to-last event of the Championhip, the 5K, tied at 170 points, but the Bucs 1-2-3-4 finish totaled 28 points to the Owls’s zero to take an insurmountable lead. ETSU also gained ground on the Owls early in the day posting 22 points in the decathlon, again to nothing from Kennesaw State.

Most Outstanding Track Performer Ben Ronoh ran three distance events for the Bucs posting second-place finishes in the 5,000- and 10,000-meter runs to his teammate, and cousin, Kenneth Rotich’s pair of record-setting times. Ronoh finished first in the steeplechase with a time of 9:20.17.

The Bucs' Nic Chernikow set a conference record with his 6197 points in the decathlon. Chernikow set the pace winning three out of the five events on day two. Teammate Jordan Briggs finished in second while USC Upstate's Reggie Thompson took the bronze. Regional qualifying sprinter Duroal Monal doubled up, winning gold in the 100 and 200m and shared in the 4x100 title with his teammates to put up crucial points for the Bucs. Briggs and senior Josh Cloyd landed second place finishes in the pole vault and triple jump, respectively.

The Spartans' Thompson garnered Most Outstanding Freshman award after finishing third in the decathlon. Thompson posted points in the high jump and long jump to lead USC Upstate to a 66-point improvement from a season ago, its first in the conference. The Spartans finished in fourth with 71 points.

Most Outstanding Field and Most Valuable Performer Casey Strickland competed in six events for Kennesaw State and scored points in four. His first-place finishes in the javelin and discus helped the Owls stay in reach of ETSU. Strickland also took silver in the shot put and sixth in the high jump.

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.