Conference championship title No. 50 for head coach Dean Hayes came Sunday, as the Middle Tennessee Blue Raider men’s indoor track team captured its first C-USA indoor crown since joining the league in 2013.
Hayes was named C-USA Indoor Coach of the Year following the meet, while Kigen Chemadi was tabbed the league’s Freshman of the Year. The Blue Raiders also set four new school indoor records and a C-USA Championship meet record on the weekend.
“The biggest thing to me is the consistency of being a quality program. That’s what is most important to me,” Hayes said. “For the athletes to go on and do what they have done, that’s what I really like. The first championship was in 1977, so to be able to do that for 40 years, that’s nice.”
Clinging to just a nine-point advantage, the Blue Raiders sealed the title in the 3000-meter run. Jacob Choge led a 1, 2, 3 finish with a time of 8:18.42. Kigen Chemadi (8:20.63) and Sampson Laari (8:22.23) finished second and third, respectively, while Geoffry Cheruiyot ran an 8:29.17 mark for a seventh-place finish. Middle Tennessee captured 26 points in the event to build a 35-point cushion for the win.
“It was nice knowing we had that event in the end. We knew if we were tied or if the score was close we could rely on that,” Hayes said. “That really sealed it and made it easy.”
MT entered the day in second place and trailed by just seven points to Charlotte. The men’s trio of Eliud Rutto, Sampson Laari and Hillary Rono helped carry the momentum in the 800-meter run. Rutto and Laari claimed second and third-place finishes with times of 1:50.77 and 1:52.68, respectively, while Rono finished sixth with a time of 1:56.28. The trio claimed 16 points in the event and gave MT its first lead of the weekend the it would not surrender.
Atsu Nyamadi broke his own school record set a year ago in the heptathlon with 5,505 points. The senior turned in a pair of first-place finishes in the multi-events and helped jump start the Raider rally to start the day. Newcomer Solomon Afful also contributed to the cause by taking gold in the 200-meter dash with a sprint of 21.00.
Entering the final day in fifth place, the women made a valiant run down the stretch of day two to finish third overall.
After a pair of second-place finishes in the mile run and 60-meter dash, Loveth Odia and Abike Egbeniyi kept the momentum rolling with a first and second-place finish in the 400-meter dash with times of 53.88 and 53.95, respectively.
MT’s Agnes Abu exceled on the track as well by taking gold in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:12.40, and set a school record while taking second in the mile run with a mark of 4:43.61.
To cap the day, the women’s 4×400 relay squad of Janet Amponsah, Abu, Egbeniyi and Odia set a new C-USA Championship meet record, clocking in at 3:37.53.
TEAM RANKINGS:
MEN
1. Middle Tennessee, 130
2. WKU, 100
3. UTSA, 97
4. Charlotte, 85
5. UTEP, 74
6. Rice, 51
7. LA Tech, 41
8. Southern Miss, 36.5
9. FIU, 25.5
10. North Texas, 22
WOMEN
1. UTEP, 113
2. Rice, 110
3. Middle Tennessee, 87
4. UTSA, 60
5. WKU, 54
6. Southern Miss, 46
7. Marshall, 41
8. Charlotte, 40.5
9. North Texas, 36.5
10. FIU, 28
11. Florida Atlantic, 25
12. UAB, 18
13. LA Tech, 4
FINAL RESULTS:
MEN’S RESULTS
60 Meter:
6. Solomon Afful, 6.84
200 Meter:
1. Solomon Afful, 21.00
800 Meter:
2. Eluid Rutto, 1:50.77
3. Sampson Laari, 1:52.68
6. Hillary Rono, 1:56.28
Mile Run:
2. Sampson Laari, 4:04.13
4. Kigen Chemadi, 4:05.51
5. Eliud Rutto, 4:10.03
9. Hillary Rono, 4:11.84
3000 Meter:
1. Jacob Choge, 8:18.42
2. Kigen Chemadi, 8:20.63
3. Sampson Laari, 8:22.23
7. Geoffry Cheruiyot, 8:29.17
5000 Meter:
1. Jacob Choge, 14:13.60
2. Kigen Chemadi, 14:14.90
9. Amos Cheruiyot, 14:52.20
Distance Medley:
2. Geoffry Cheruiyot, Trevon Sanders, Nathan Mack, Hillary Rono; 10:03.59
4×400 Meter Relay:
5. Ifiok Umoh, Trevon Sanders, Adeniji Adedamola, Nathan Mack; 3:15.17
High Jump:
6. Jacob Patten, 6’06.25″ (1.99m)
10. Phillip Smith, 6’06.25″ (1.99m)
Long Jump:
7. Atsu Nyamadi, 23’02.00″ (7.06m)
Men’s Heptathlon:
2. Atsu Nyamadi, 5,505 points*
Event: Mark (Finish)
60 Meter: 7.22 (5)
Long Jump: 23’03.50 (7.10m) (3)
Shot Put: 47’05.25″ (14.46m) (1)
High Jump: 6’04.25″ (1.94m) (4)
60 Meter Hurdles: 8.48 (3)
Pole Vault: 14’00.75″ (4.29m) (2)
1000 Meter Run: 2:47.62 (1)
WOMEN’S RESULTS
60 Meter:
2. Janet Amponsah, 7.44
200 Meter:
2. Janet Amponsah, 23.56
5. Loveth Odia, 24.29
400 Meter:
1. Loveth Odia, 53.88
2. Abike Egbeniyi, 53.95
800 Meter:
1. Agnes Abu, 2:12.40
8. Abike Egbeniyi, 2:34.23
Mile Run:
2. Agnes Abu, 4:43.61*
3000 Meter:
12. Julia Jelagat, 10:03.56
5000 Meter:
6. Julia Jelagat, 17:22.31
16. Sharon Kibiwott, 18:11.26
60 Meter Hurdles:
6. Jessica Howell, 8.80
4×400 Meter Relay:
1. Janet Amponsah, Agnes Abu, Abike Egbeniyi, Loveth Odia; 3:37.53*^
Triple Jump:
12. Qetuwrah Abdullah-Muhammad, 37’08.50″ (11.49m)
Long Jump:
2. Qetuwrah Abdullah-Muhammad, 19’05.50″ (5.93m)
Women’s Pentathlon:
3. Qetuwrah Abdullah-Muhammad, 3,773 points*
Event: Mark (Finish)
60 Meter Hurdles: 8.90 (4)
High Jump: 5’05.25″ (1.66m) (2)
Shot Put: 30’08.25″ (9.35m) (12)
Long Jump: 19’04.00″ (5.89m) (1)
800 Meter Run: 2:26.82 (5)
*school record (4)
^meet record (1)
