Saturday, April 16, 2011

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – For the second straight year and third time in four years, Kennesaw State claims the Atlantic Sun Conference Men’s Outdoor Track and Field championship with 237 points.

East Tennessee State was second with 171 points while Campbell placed third with 128 points.

The Owls claimed a first and third place finish in the high jump as Jerome McKinzie took the crown with a height of 2.05m. This is McKinzie’s second title in the high jump, having won the event last season. KSU’s Cameron Zeman also hit a height of 2.05m. In second was Upstate’s Perrish Goggins with a height of 2.05m.

Kennesaw’s Joshua McNair threw a distance of 47.80m in the discus to take the championship. Defending discus champion, Joe Frye of Belmont finished second with a throw of 45.31m while ETSU’s Cornell Sneed hit a mark of 44.53m for third place points.

KSU continued their dominance of the field events as Anjoun Armaly took the top spot in the triple jump with a distance of 14.90m. Armaly won the long jump during the opening day of competition. Campbell’s Diego Lawrence and Adoniss Jones rounded out the top three with distances of 14.79m and 14.17m, respectively.

In the javelin, the Bucs secured the title with Matt Baum’s throw of 56.49m. Campbell’s Dave Mathews was second with a distance of 52.44 while ETSU’s Sam Liska rounded out the top three with a throw of 51.61m.

KSU’s Kendall Parks finished first in the 110m hurdles, notching a time of 13.87 followed by ETSU’s Michael James in second with a time of 13.92. Three-time A-Sun 110m hurdle champion, Jones from Campbell, placed third in a time of 13.94.

The Owls took the 400m hurdle title as well, picking up first place points from Joshua James with a time of 52.00. Jones had a second place finish for the Camels in a time of 52.17 and Robert Purcell of ETSU placed third posting a time of 53.22.

ETSU’s Benjamin Ronoh ran a time of 9:33.15 to win the 3,000m steeplechase event. KSU’s Nabil Hamid placed second with a time of 9:41.00.

The Bucs also claimed the top spot in the 100m dash with Ifrish Alberg’s time of 10.42. Campbell’s Rashad Campbell and Lawrence placed second and third in the event with times of 10.49 and 10.54, respectively.

Lawrence followed up with a first place finish in the 200m dash after running a facility record setting pace of 21.20. Lipscomb’s Tucker Peabody wias third with a time of 21.27 while ETSU’s Alberg was third, notching a time of 21.36.

North Florida had a one, two in the 1,500m. Will Pearce ran a time of 3:54.83 to place first. Pearce previously won the event in 2009. Pierce’s teammate James Post had a time of 3:57.73. Belmont’s Marcus Bridger-Wilkinson was third with a time of 3:57.82.

The 4x100m relay team from KSU consisting of Parks, Jemir Martinez, Antonio Logan and Armaly claimed the title, running a time of 40.64. Campbell’s team ran 40.69 to place second and the ETSU relay squad was third with a time of 40.70.

Tim O’Dell of ETSU set a facility record in the 400m dash with a winning time of 47.71. Campbell’s Jayshawn Campbell was second (48.14) and Upstate’s Mike Meissner ran a time of 48.25 for a third place finish.

In the 800m, KSU’s Gianni Catalano secured the top spot with a time of 1:53.15. With the win, Catalano became a three time conference champion in the 800m, having previously won in 2008 and 2009. The Spartans’ rounded out the top three with Michael Johnson finishing second (1:54.62) and Cameron Thomas placing third (1:54.72).

Jaakko Nieminen of KSU took first place in the 5,000m run with a time of 14:51.84. ETSU’s Benjamin Ronoh was second (14:58.47) and in third place was Erick Kigen from Belmont with a time of 15:00.65.

The 4x400m relay rounded out the events as ETSU team of O’Dell, Desmond Pierce, Alberg and Purcell claimed the title with a time 3:15.07. Upstate’s team was second with a time of 3:15.57 and with a time of 3:16.09 UNF finished third in the event.

Belmont's Matt Fiedler held onto his day one lead to earn the decathlon title with 6,550 points - 70 points ahed of Lipscomb's Dillon Siegenthaler. Fiedler utilized three second-place finishes in day two to earn the win after finishing as the runner-up in last year's decathlon.

KSU head coach Andy Eggerth was named the Atlantic Sun Conference Coach of the Year. Outstanding Male Track Performer went to ETSU’s Ben Ronoh and UNF’s David Shepherd earned Outstanding Male Freshman Performer. Joe Frye of Belmont was named the Outstanding Male Field Performer. Most Valuable Male Performer went to Campbell’s Diego Lawrence.

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