April 26, 2009

HICKORY, N.C. – The Mars Hill men’s track team finished runner-up to UNC Pembroke at the Southeast Regional Championship Meet on Saturday at Lenoir Rhyne University. The men posted 109 points.

In Friday action, Senior Brad Nagel (King, N.C.) led a strong performance by the men in the Hammer Throw with his 2nd place finish (27.50m). Also placing in the Hammer Throw were Richard Clarke (Lookout Mountain, Ga.) in third (25.79m) and Alan Broadnax (Travelers Rest, S.C.) in fourth (18.67m).

Clarke claimed his first victory in the javelin with a throw of 45.33m.  Nagel finished in third place in the javelin (41.72m) and Chris Hafner (Farmington, Mo.) finished fourth (40.39m). Clarke then claimed his second victory in the discus with a school record throw of 39.14m.  Nagel finished fourth in the discus with a throw of 30.01m.

Clarke completed his remarkable weekend with a second place finish in the shot put.  Clarke’s throw of 12.14m led the way for the Lions as Alan Broadnax followed in third (10.77m) and Nagel in fourth (10.04m). Broadnax’s throw capped a weekend that saw him eclipse personal bests in the shot put, hammer throw, and javelin.

Nagel led Lion jumpers by claiming a victory in the Pole Vault with his clearance of 3.80m.  The Lions swept the remaining scoring spots in the pole vault with Hafner in second (3.40m), and Justin Baker (Raleigh, N.C.) and Clarke tying for third (2.45m).

Senior Tyrea Allen (Murphy, N.C.) began his day with a victory in the long jump.  Allen’s jump of 6.75m matched his career best jump set earlier this season.  The men also earned important team points in the high jump and were led by sophomore Frankie Waters (Brevard, N.C.) second place finish (1.85m).  Broadnax finished third (1.75m) and Hafner fourth (1.70m). Will Barber completed scoring for the Lions in the jumps with a third place finish in the triple jump (11.56m).

Waters set the tone for the Lions sprinters and hurdlers with a dominating victory in the 110m Hurdles.  Waters, who currently holds the seventh fastest time in NCAA Division II, easily defeated the field with his time of 14.96 seconds. Barber (16.40) and Nagel (16.44) followed Waters to third and fourth place finishes. Just moments later, Waters completed the 100m dash with a second place finish in 11.08 seconds.

Allen posted a second place finish in the 400m dash (51.33 seconds) before Allen and Waters joined for an impressive heat of the 200m dash. With each competing after the completion of multiple events, Allen finished in third place (22.55 seconds) and Waters followed closely behind in fourth place (22.60 seconds).

The 4x100m relay team of Hafner, Kenny Wells (Winston-Salem, N.C.), Nathan Watson (Townville, S.C.), and Broadnax earned a third place finish (46.76) while the 4x400m relay team of Allen, Watson, Justin Baker, and Aaron Thomas ran a season best time of 3:30.85 en route to their third place finish. Capping off the sprints and hurdle events, Baker established a new school record and claimed a second place finish in the 400m hurdles with his time of 58.75 seconds. 

Before Baker's record-breaking performance in the 400m hurdles, he claimed victory in the 3000m Steeplechase with his time of 9:57.81.  Also in the steeplechase, Doug Forbes (Poplar Branch, N.C.) finished in third place (11:36.94) and Ben Crenshaw (Linville Falls, N.C.) in fourth place (12:06.97).

Due to adverse weather on Friday night, the men’s 10,000m run was moved to Saturday morning and forced both Mars Hill entrants – Crenshaw and Trey McCain (Gilbert, S.C.) – into a challenging day of multiple races with no help from the near 90 degree heat. Crenshaw and McCain used teamwork to claim victory in the 10,000m. While the two crossed the finish line together, Crenshaw was credited with the first place finish.

The mid-distance races were led by Sophomore Aaron Thomas (Seminole, Fla.). In the 1500m race, Thomas waited patiently in the pack for 1,000m before making a move to the front.  He used a blistering last lap to claim victory in a season best time of 4:02.93.  Josh Corbin (Franklin, N.C.) battled a foot injury, but still came away with a third place finish in 4:17.04. Thomas then returned for the 800m race where he used a big sprint finish in the last 100m to win the event in 2:00.28. 

In the final individual event of the day, McCain teamed with Kit Powell (Antigo, Wis.) to take the top two spots in the 5,000m run. McCain separated from the lead pack at the mile en route to a comfortable victory (16:08.44) while Powell struggled with the heat, but held onto his second place position (16:44.50). 

SAC Team Scores:

Mars Hill College                           109

Lenoir Rhyne University                72

Carson Newman College              16

Brevard College                            15

Mars Hill Top Performances:

Richard Clarke – Javelin, Discus

Tyrea Allen – Long Jump

Brad Nagel – Pole Vault

Justin Baker – 3000m Steeplechase

Aaron Thomas – 1500m, 800m

Frankie Waters – 110m Hurdles

Trey McCain – 5,000m, 10,000m

Complete Results...

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