1. Mankato, Minn. --- Forthe fifth-straightyear,the MinnesotaState men'strackand fieldprogram
hoistedthe championshipplaqueatthe NSICIndoorConference Championships.
Poweredbehindfourfirst-place crownsondaytwo,the Mavericksscored163 pointsprovingtobe too
much forthe competitionwithsecond-place Universityof SiouxFallsfinishingwith120 points.
The Mavericksgot off to a faststart once again inthe triple jumpwithtwoathletesplacinginthe top
five. AlexCampbell (Ellsworth,Wis.) placed-secondwithajumpof 49’00.25’’. Thisishispersonal best
and the 14th
bestin divisionII. BenjaminOjika(New Brighton,Minn.) placedfourthwithajumpof
47’03.40’’.
The men’sshotput had twoathletesplace inthe top-eightwith Jayme LaPlante infourth(51’06.25’’),
whichisa newpersonal best andBryan Caffininsixth(49’05.75’’).
The sprinteventssawmuch more of the same. Kryan Stewart (Camilla,Ga.) beatthe fieldof eightwitha
final time of 6.81. Jacob Gurley(Eagan,Minn.) barelymissedoutonthe topspot placing-secondwitha
time of 6.82. Richard Wilhite,Jr.(Minneapolis,Minn.)gainedsome valuable pointsaswell withhisfifth
place finish(6.92).Stewart, Wilhite,andGourleysweptthe top-threepodiumspotsinthe 200-meters
withtimesof 21.52, 21.82 and 21.95 to theirrespective individuals. JackCurtis(Lombard,Ill)tookhome
seventhplace witharun of 22.59.
Aftersettinganewmeetrecordyesterday, MylesHunter,wasat itagain.Is winningtime of 7.69
shattershispreviousrecordof 7.76. Alsogainingpointsforthe Maverickswere AnyahNutterin sixth
and BenjaminOjika ineighth.Javontee Brice (Bradenton,Fla.) improvedonhisseventhplace finishlast
yearwitha fourth-place andatime of 49.69. He was followedcloselybyteammate ReidDiamondin
fifth(50.50). The 600-meter runfinal hadJohn Schuster(Wells,Minn.)come inaclose secondwitha
time of 1:21.45.
The Maverickswere well representedinthe 1000-meterrun,takingthe second-fourthspots.Insecond
was Brennan Holman (Sacramento,Calif.) (2:33.05).He wasfollowedcloselyby BrendanGessner(Lino
Lakes,Minn.) (2:33.62), and Michael Hoff (VadnaisHeights, Minn.)(2:35.65). An excitingfinishinthe
mile eventsaw AustinPasch (Tomah,Wis) finishsecondwithatime of 4:19.22.
There wassome controversyinthe men’s4x400-meterrelayas MSU wouldhave placedthird,buttheir
batonwas droppedrightbefore the finishline fromsome incidental contact.Thismishapdidn’tmatter
thoughas the Maverickscrushedtheircompetitionandwonthe teamchampionshipwith209.20 points.
To put that inperspective the secondplace teamof AugustanaUniversityhad99points.
Full resultsof the NSICChampionshipsmaybe viewed HERE.
Thismarks the endof the seasonforthose whodidnot qualifyfornationals.Forthose whodid,upnext
isthe NCAA DivisionIINational ChampionshipsbeingheldMarch12-13th
, in Pittsburg,Kan.
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