RESULTS

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Lee University men's track & field team earned wins in five individual events on their way to winning the Gulf South Conference Indoor Track & Field Championship. The two-day event was held at the Birmingham CrossPlex.

The Flames accumulated 162 points to edge runner-up Alabama Huntsville's 159.5-point total. Montevallo was third (116) and Mississippi College finished fourth (115.5).

UAH held a lead of 8.50 points with just the 5000-meter run and 4x400-meter relay remaining. Lee's Christian Noble, Casey Guthery and Caleb Eagleson to claim the top three spots in the 5000 and gave the Flames a 7.50-point advantage. Since there were six teams competing in the relay, the Flames only needed to finish and avoid being disqualified to secure the team title.

Noble led the way with four gold medals in the 5000, mile, 3000-meter run and as part of the distance medley relay. As a result, he was named the Most Outstanding Track and Overall Performer. Moises Ponce was recognized as the GSC Indoor Track & Field Championship Scholar-Athlete.

The Flames grabbed an early lead due to the 3000-meter run. Noble was first across the line at 8:30.79. Guthery was second with a time of 8:32.38. Eagleson (8:34.06) and Will Stone (8:34.65) were fourth and fifth, respectively, to give Lee 27 points in the event. Ponce completed the race in 12^th at 8:56.04.

Noble joined with Jeremiah McCain, Elias Sandifer and Jared Herzog to win the distance medley relay by almost two seconds with a combined mark of 10:11.19. Noble began Wednesday with another gold-medal performance in the mile. His time of 4:14.09 was two seconds better than Montevallo's Joseph Leventry. Herzog placed fourth (4:17.33). Stone was eighth (4:22.34), Sandifer finished ninth (4:24.15) and Jacob Hatcher's time of 4:30.29 was good for 15^th.

In the 5K, Noble stopped the clock at 14:41.44 with Guthery close behind at 14:42.79. Eagleson was thir
d at 14:46.09. The next closest runner finished at 14:53.14. Adan Rodriguez posted a time of 15:31.65 for 11^th.

Jonah Mayes supplied the Flames' fifth gold medal. He cleared 2.01 meters to earn the win in the high jump and set a Lee record. Mayes added a third-place finish in the long jump with a measurement of 6.93 meters and was fifth with a triple jump of 13.98 meters. Derek Flatford was sixth in the long jump at 6.71 meters. Eli Brooks covered 11.54 meters to finish 13t in the triple jump.

"It's hard to put into words the rollercoaster of a ride this championship was for our men," said Lee head coach Caleb Morgan. "We were a 20-point underdog coming in and knew things had to go perfect from the start. We immediately got a big boost putting four in the top 5 of the men's 3K. Mayes and Flatford followed that up picking up much needed points in the long jump."

McCain added another Lee record in the 60-meter hurdles. He crossed the finish line in third at 8.54 seconds. Stacen Cunningham was fifth (8.78) and Charles Nnantah was sixth (8.94). McCain and Caleb Campbell represented Lee in the 200-meter dash where McCain was third (22.15) and Campbell was sixth (22.28) in the event final. Jailon Santee was 11^th (51.25) and Campbell was 15^th (54.62) in the 400-meter dash.

Daniel Surman set a Lee record of 4.60 meters to finish second in the pole vault. Brooks was fourth at 4.15 meters. Gari Garmendia's throw of 15.37 meters placed him second in the shot put. He was fourth in the weight throw with a toss of 14.60 meters.

Five Lee runners competed in the 800-meter run. Herzog was Lee's top finisher at 1:57.73 (eighth) and Sandifer finished 14^th (1:59.58). Andrew Hendry (2:01.02) was 18^th and Hatcher was right behind at 2:01.22 (19^th). Stone completed the race at 2:03.40 (23^rd).

Surman was the top Lee performer in the heptathlon. He amassed a Lee record 4023 points to finish fourth. Cunningham collected 3744 points for sixth, Brooks was seventh (3683) and Nnantah finished ninth (3365).

"Day 2 started with a couple of big blows in the 400-meter run with the DQ of McCain and Campbell straining his hamstring. Somehow those two athletes rebounded and came back in the 200, running way beyond expectations. This brought life back and gave us a long shot of having to sweep the top three spots of the 5K, in order to win the meet. Noble, Guthery and Eagleson ran one of the most tactically savvy races in Lee history, solidifying the sweep and the win. When a championship is on the line, this team always seems to find a way to rise to the occasion. This was certainly a total team effort: every point mattered and every athlete mattered," concluded Morgan.