SHAWNEE, Okla. – Oklahoma Baptist’s men grabbed a narrow lead while Harding’s women established a wide advantage atop the standings of the 2022 Great American Track & Field Championships from Hurt Memorial Athletic Complex on the campus of Oklahoma Baptist University.
Bison men won two events on Friday and finished the day with 80 points. Matthew Higdon took first in the hammer throw with a winning mark of 55.94 meters - more than seven meters clear of Southern Arkansas’ Ja'Kamron Zackery. Maxamillian Wheeler led a Bison 1-2 finish in the 3000-meter steeplechase as he finished almost seven seconds ahead of Christian Arenivar to repeat ast GAC Champion.
2022 GAC CHAMPIONSHIPS RESULTS
Harding trails Oklahoma Baptist by 10 points. The Bisons scored wins in the decathlon, the triple jump and the javelin throw. Matt Hipshire won the decathlon by 365 points. Nikolasz Csokas took first in the triple jump as he edged out Southern Arkansas’ Dariusz Patterson by only 0.02 meters. Will Clark won the javelin for the third time in his career with a meet-record throw of 57.40 meters.
East Central’s Amos Pkiach won the 10,000 on Thursday with a GAC Championship record time of 29:54.60. He finished more than a minute clear of his closest competitor. SAU finished the day in third place, 21 points behind Oklahoma Baptist.
Lady Bison field athletes dominated on Friday. Anna-Kay Clark set a Championship record in the javelin with a throw of 46.66 meters. Her teammates Cooper Monn placed second and Meghan McElory took third. Jenna Akins and Mariah Miller placed first and second in the triple jump and Cara Mason won the hammer throw. Sofie Reitbauer completed her victory in the heptathlon as she held off her teammate, Lauren Shell, by 45 points.
Arkansas Tech’s Morganne Browning and Mary Beth Bailey claimed the top two spots in the 3000-meter steeplechase. On Thursday night, Oklahoma Baptist’s Sophia Strange posted a personal best in winning the 10,000 with a GAC Championship record time of 36:49.97 to edge her teammate, Emma Downing, by less than two-tenths of a second.
Harding ended the day with 94 points, 40 clear of Oklahoma Baptist. Arkansas Tech placed third, followed by SAU.
Saturday’s action begins at 10 a.m. with the field events of discus, long jump, high jump, pole vault and shot put. Action on the track starts at 1:30 p.m. with the 4x100 relay. Saturday’ additional running events include the 1500, the 100 and 110 hurdles, the 400, the 100, the 800, the 400 hurdles, the 200 and the 5000-meter run. The league meet concludes at 5:50 p.m. with the 4x400 relays.