FINAL RESULTS || SEARCY, Arkansas – Harding captured its fifth-straight Great American Conference Men’s Track & Field Championship as the Bisons won five events Friday at their home venue, Ted and Marcie Lloyd Track and Field Complex to finish with 279 points. Oklahoma Baptist finished second. The Bison’s Emory Crayton and Dwayne Fleming shared the MVP Award.
The Bisons finished 47 points clear of Oklahoma Baptist. Vlad Malykhin became a four-time champion in the pole vault as he led a 1-2-3-4 finish in the event for the Bisons. Yves Bilong repeated as the champion in the triple jump. He established the top jump, 15.58 meters, on his first attempt of the event. Savian Bush won the 110-meter hurdles and Benson Lingokal set his second GAC Championship record of the week after he won the 5000 in 14:19.08. The 4x400-meter relay team of Emmanuel Ragira, Caledon Ruwende, Dillon Williams and Bush closed out the meet by breaking the meet record with a victorious time of 3:11.46. Don Hood earned the Coach of the Year award.
Oklahoma Baptist’s 4x100-meter relay of Gage Spencer, Caden Peevey, Kobe Brown and Fleming set a GAC Championship record with the first sub-40 seconds time, 39.96 seconds. Korban Murphy edged out his teammate, Damien Williams for the win in the 1500. Later, he won the 800 in a GAC Championship-record time of 1:50.97. Ayo Toritsju notched the title in the 400. Fleming became only the third GAC male athlete to complete the 100 and 200 double. He won the 200 in a record time of 20.68 seconds. He and Crayton each amassed 24 points to share the MVP honor. Crayton, who won the 3000-meter steeplechase on Thursday and took third in Wednesday's 10,000, added a runner-up finish in the 5000.
Ouachita Baptist placed third. The Tigers’ Rocco Patrick made program history by winning the discus. He became the first Tiger to win a field event at a GAC Championship. Aden Hecht claimed the title in the 400-meter hurdles in a record time of 51.38 seconds.
Northwestern Oklahoma State took fourth, followed by Southern Arkansas. The Rangers’ Jeremiah Anderson won the high jump as he cleared 1.99 meters. East Central and Southern Nazarene rounded out the team standings.
The GAC also handed out its Elite Athlete Awards - Presented by Conway Regional Health System - to Ouachita Baptist’s Noah Embrey, Jameson Flatt, Gabriel Greenwich and Hayes Murphy, Harding’s Elijah Barnes, Oklahoma Baptist’s Hudson Cunningham, Southern Arkansas’s Hunter Pye and Southern Nazarene’s Colter Bufford. All eight own 4.00 grade-point averages. An additional 70 GAC standouts made the Academic Honor Roll.