Tweet #theGAC  MAGNOLIA, Ark. – The Southern Arkansas men and the Oklahoma Baptist women each earned their first Great American Conference Track & Field Championship crowns on Saturday from the Mulerider Track & Field Complex. Both squads dominated the final day’s events to overtake Harding, who had won the first two GAC Championship titles on both sides and held the lead in both competitions entering the day.
 
SAU’s Karonce Higgins earned the Men’s Most Valuable Athlete award after he won a pair of events - the long jump and the 200-meter dash - placed second in the 100 and ran on both the winning 400-meter and 1600-meter relay squads. His coach, Tim Servis garnered the Coach of the Year Award.
 
Harding’s Chelsea Howard took home the Most Valuable Athlete award on the women’s side as she completed the 100-200 double; finished second in the long jump; took fourth in the triple jump and ran on both relay units that each placed third. Oklahoma Baptist’s Ford Mastin won the Coach of the Year honor.
 
SAU finished the men’s meet with 191.5 points, 25.5 clear of Oklahoma Baptist. Harding slipped to third followed by Rogers State, East Central, Oklahoma Christian and Southern Nazarene. Oklahoma Baptist amassed 213 points on the women’s side. Harding finished with 194 with SAU, Oklahoma Christian, Rogers State, East Central, Southern Nazarene and Southwestern Oklahoma State rounding out the team standings.
 
Saturday’s field events opened with Harding’s Emily Shell and Will Clark winning the women’s and men’s javelin, respectively. Clark set a Championship record with a mark of 54.54 meters, set on her final throw. Oklahoma Christians’s Destiny Grace repeated as the champion in the shot put with a record throw of 13.13 meters. Oklahoma Baptist’s Saleem Fadel took first in the men’s competition.
 
Rogers State’s Daisha Reece edged Howard to win the long jump while Higgins’ win represented his second first-place result in in the event. He also won in 2016. Harding’s Cameron Bienz claimed his third-straight title in the high jump as he posted an NCAA Provisional mark, and meet record, of 2.11 meters. Oklahoma Christian’s McKenzie repeated as the women’s champion. She also established a meet record with an NCAA Provisional clearance of 1.73 meters.
 
Oklahoma Baptist’s Payton Wilson broke the GAC Championship record in the pole vault with a mark of 3.35 meters while the Bison’s Spencer Lashley took home first on the men’s side. Shell added her second field event win as she jumped a GAC record 11.12 meters on her final attempt in the triple jump. Arthur Jeffrey repeated on the men’s side as his jump of 14.89 meters broke his own GAC record and bested the NCAA Provisional standard.
 
On the track, SAU and Rogers State won the 400-meter relays. Harding’s Nehemia Too added a first-place finish in the 1500 to his Friday night win the 3000-meter steeplechase. Oklahoma Baptist’s Tesa Potter bested the field on the women’s side.
 
In the 110 hurdles, the Muleriders’ Raymond Miller topped reigning champion Landon Huslig by .08 seconds. Meanwhile, Oklahoma Baptist’s Leah Molter became a three-time champion in the 100 hurdles. SAU’s Addison Ross took first in the men’s 400 and Oklahoma Baptist’s McKae Mitchell dominated the women’s competition, breaking the GAC record by almost two seconds with an NCAA Provisional time of 55.19 seconds.
 
RSU’s Dijron Lilley repeated as the fastest man in the GAC, winning the 100 in 10.78 seconds, .01 ahead of Higgins. Howard bested two-time champion Audrianna Morgan, from Rogers State, with a time of 12.09 seconds. ECU’s Kevin Matthews won the men’s 800 while Harding’s Kinga Szarzynska cruised to a win on the women’s side, posting a record time of 2:13.66, almost three seconds clear of the field.
 
Huslig and Molter each lowered their own GAC records in the 400 hurdles with NCAA Provisional times. Huslig posted a winning time 52.58 seconds and Molter finished in 1:00.85.
 
Higgins and Howard each ran NCAA Provisional times in the 200 as Higgins crossed in 21.30 and Howard turned a time of 24.41 seconds. Too picked up his third first-place result of the meet as he edged Larr Filer at the line in the 5000 meters. Oklahoma Baptist’s Abby Hoover won the women’s race by almost three seconds.
 
The SAU men and Oklahoma Baptist women each set GAC Championship records with NCAA Provisional times in the 1600-meter relay. The Muleriders turned in a time of 3:12.69 while the Lady Bison’s mark of 3:47.13 bested the field by close to three seconds.