Nambawa's record leap, Morgan's first-place finish pace Blue Raiders during final day
Final Men's Results
Final Women's Results
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. - The final day of the Sun Belt Outdoor Track & Field Championships concluded Sunday with Western Kentucky claiming both the men's and women's titles, with the host Middle Tennessee squads claiming second (men) and third (women) in the final team standings.
The Blue Raiders made a push for points during the afternoon's triple jump events. Junior Sarah Nambawa had perhaps the best performance of any competitor on the day when she leapt to a mark of 44-11.75 (13.71m) to pass Florida State's Kimberly Williams as the top distance on the NCAA performance list this season. The distance, easily a personal best, moved her up from the eighth spot nationally and set a Sun Belt Championships, overall Sun Belt and Dean A. Hayes Track and Soccer Stadium record along the way. It also places her 21st on the IAAF's chart for 2009 performances.
MT completed the triple jump sweep of new Hayes Stadium standards when senior Carl Morgan registered a 52-4.5 (15.96m) mark on his second jump to move from 38th to 15th in the NCAA this season. Morgan's best leap held-off the competition, despite him only tallying one recorded distance in the finals. His fifth overall jump, second of the finals, was a foul before he passed on his final attempt when it was not necessary.
Other first-place winners for Middle Tennessee included Roscoe Payne (men's 400m hurdles, 51.41), Festus Chemaoi (men's 800m, 1:51.66), Zamzam Sangau (women's 800m, 2:10.31) and the women's 4x400m relay team (3:46.28) who came in three one-hundreths of a second in front of runner-up Florida Atlantic.
A number of Blue Raiders collected second-place results, including Payne in the 110m hurdles with a time of 14.09, just three one-hundreths of a second off the pace set by Troy's Leander McKenzie. Middle Tennessee's men's 4x100m relay tied for second with North Texas, as the pair of schools clocked in two one-hundreths of a second behind WKU.
Western Kentucky's Gavin Smellie blitzed the field in the 100m, winning in 10.32 to rank 16th on the NCAA list. South Alabama's Zac Edwards ran away from the pack in the 5000, setting a championship record with a time of 14:14.33, exactly six seconds ahead of MT's William Songock.
Numerous other NCAA Regional qualifiers, as well as championship and stadium records fell throughout the day as the teams concluded the three-day event.
For the Blue Raiders, competition will continue Friday-Saturday at the Georgia Tech Invitational, a Last Chance meet, in Atlanta.
Men's Outstanding Track Performer:
Gavin Smellie, Western Kentucky
Men's Outstanding Field Co-Performers:
Carl Morgan, Middle Tennessee
Mandhla Mgjimima, Western Kentucky
Men's Outstanding Co-Freshmen:
Roscoe Payne, Middle Tennessee
Kythe Talley, North Texas
Men's Top Meet Scorer:
Gavin Smellie, Western Kentucky - 25 points
Men's Coach of the Year:
Erik Jenkins, Western Kentucky
Women's Outstanding Track Performer:
Zamzam Sangau, Middle Tennessee
Women's Outstanding Field Performer:
Sarah Nambawa, Middle Tennessee
Women's Outstanding Freshman:
Charmisha Morrow, Arkansas State
Women's Top Meet Co-Scorers:
Zamzam Sangau, Middle Tennessee - 26 points
Tiphanie Baker, Troy - 26 points
Paola Reategui, Florida International - 26 points
Women's Co-Coaches of the Year:
Erik Jenkins, Western Kentucky
Eric Campbell, Florida International
Men's Team Standings:
1. Western Kentucky, 161
2. Middle Tennessee, 130
3. Louisiana-Monroe, 121
4. North Texas, 91.50
5. UALR, 74
6. Arkansas State, 72.50
7. Troy, 65
8. South Alabama, 48
9. Louisiana-Lafayette, 35
10. Florida International, 21
Women's Team Standings:
1. Western Kentucky, 153
2. Florida International, 115.60
3. Middle Tennessee, 108.60
4. North Texas, 97
5. Louisiana-Monroe, 90.20
6. Arkansas State, 82
7. Troy, 65.60
8. Louisiana-Lafayette, 35
9. South Alabama, 29
9. Florida Atlantic, 29
11. UALR, 13