RESULTS || SEARCY, Ark. – For the second-straight year Harding won both the Men’s and Women’s Track & Field Championships as the Bisons and Lady Bisons claimed the titles on their home surface, Ted Lloyd Track, on Saturday. Bison thrower Josh Syrotchen earned the Most Outstanding Athlete honor on the men’s side and head coach Steve Guymon won both Coach of the Year awards. Southern Arkansas’ Claudine Blancaflor garnered the Most Outstanding Athlete award for the women’s competition.
The men amassed 229 points and finished 77 clear of SAU. Oklahoma Christian took third, one point ahead of Rogers State. Southern Nazarene finished fifth with East Central in sixth. The Lady Bisons scored 201 points with the Lady Muleriders again in second. The Eagles took third followed by the Hillcats, the Crimson Storm, the Tigers and Southwestern Oklahoma State.
Syrotchen claimed the Most Outstanding Athlete for the second-straight year as he won three of the throwing events – the hammer, the discus and the shot put. Blancaflor totaled 28 points after scoring 10 points in both the 1500- and 5000-meter runs and tallying eight in the 800.
In Saturday’s field events, Oklahoma Baptist’s Jordan Patterson and SAU’s Justice Reliford took home the top spots in the long jump. Oklahoma Christian’s McKenzie Stanford and Harding’s Cameron Bienz won the high jump competitions. Harding swept the javelin as Tyler McAllister and Jenni Nadeau finished atop the standings. In the pole vault, Southern Nazarene’s Colin Pasque cleared the NCAA Provisional height with a mark of 4.80m while Diana Davis won on the women’s side. Oklahoma Christian’s Alexus Woolly took home the title in the discus and Destiny Grace placed first in the shot put.
Rogers State won both the men’s and women’s 400-meter relay races. Jacques Morgan, Quintin Powell, Djiron Lilley and Ricky Bell won with a time of 41.39 seconds. The women’s team of Destiny Thompkins, Audrianna Morgan, Vivian Walters and Sch'Cara Young ran an NCAA Provisional qualifying time of 46.45.
Blancaflor won the 1500 by almost seven seconds and the Hillcats’ Baylor Harvey claimed victory in the men’s race with a time of 3:55.15. In the 100- and 110-meter hurdle races, Oklahoma Christian’s Landon Hustling earned his first of two victories on Saturday and Oklahoma Baptist’s Leah Molter repeated as the champion in the 100 with a time of 14.12 seconds that met the NCAA Provisional standard.
In the 400-meter dash, RSU’s Powell won with an NCAA Provisional time of 47.61 seconds, the 23rd fastest time in Division II this season. Oklahoma Baptist’s Kya Barnes claimed the title on the women’s side with a time of 57.23 seconds. In the 100-meter dash, RSU’s Morgan won for the second-straight year with a time of 11.91 seconds, an NCAA Provisional time. Lilley took first on the men’s side, edging out Quincy Flowers by one one-hundredth of a second.
Oklahoma Baptist swept the titles in the 800 as Destinee Allen and Carlos James finished first. Huslig and Molter doubled up on their victories in the hurdles as both won with times ahead of the NCAA Provisional mark. Flowers claimed victory in the 200 and Morgan added her second-straight 200 title to her consecutive 100 wins. In the final individual race of the meet, Oklahoma Baptist’s Kaylee Large and Rogers State’s Colton Green placed first in the 5000-meter run.
In the 1600-meter relay, Oklahoma Baptist’s quartet of Mckae Mitchell, Abby Mayfield, Breanna Hurlbut and Kya Barnes won with a time of 3:48.94. Oklahoma Christian’s team of Sawyer Pehkonen, Landon Huslig, Joshua Jones and Jalen Brown won in a time of 3:14.18.