SAMFORD OPEN RESULTS | KMS INVITATIONAL RESULTS | MAGIC CITY ELITE RESULTS

BIRMIINGHAM, Ala. – Christian Noble set the NCAA Division II record in the 5000-meter run to culminate a strong weekend for the Lee University men's track & field team. The Flames combined to set five Lee records and meet six provisional or automatic qualifying marks during competition at the Samford Open, KMS Invitational and Magic City Elite Meet. All three meets were held at the Birmingham Crossplex.

Noble crossed the finish line of the Magic City Elite 5000-meter run at 13:37.39 to win his race by 30 seconds. His mark set three individual records. He bested the NCAA DII record of 13:41.08 that had been held by Nicodemus Naimadu of Abilene Christian since 2004.

"We have been talking about this record attempt for a couple of weeks," said Lee head coach Caleb Morgan. "I'm thankful for Dave Milner for hosting the event and giving Christian a pacer and a clear track to get it done."

The time also broke the Birmingham Crossplex record of 13:41.76 that was set by Morgan McDonald in 2019 and improved Noble's Lee record from 14:01.61 that he had set one year ago at the Boston University John Thomas Terrier Classic. The time easily surpassed the automatic qualifying standard of 14:03.43.

"Obviously missing the last three national championships due to the COVID-19 pandemic has made Christian eager to make his mark in the NCAA as an all-time great. This is only the beginning of what we expect Christian to do this year," added Morgan.

Wynand Du Toit (47.18), Siphosethu Boya (48.05) and Caleb Campbell (49.42) claimed the top three spots in the 400-meter dash. Du Toit and Boya each met the provisional qualifying time of 48.42 seconds with Du Toit beating Justin Brooks' Lee record of 47.57 set in 2017. Campbell stopped the clock at 49.42. Jeremiah McCain placed sixth at 51.35.

"Wynand surprised us," admitted Morgan. "Last week was his first indoor 400-meter race ever. He came back this week and looked like a veteran, breaking a very tough school record held by seven-time All-American Justin Brooks. Wynand is ranked No. 1 nationally and we expect him to only solidify that position further in the coming weeks."

Another Lee record fell in the 800-meter run. Titus Lagat won the race with a time of 1:51.97 to break Harold Smith's record of 1:52.34 and meet the provisional mark of 1:53.00.

McCain knocked 0.10 seconds off his Lee record in the 60-meter hurdles. He finished first with a time of 8.44 seconds. Cameron Stine was sixth at 8.72 seconds and Stacen Cunningham was seventh at 8.74 seconds.

Daniel Surman finished second with a pole vault of 4.70 meters. The height was 0.10 meters higher than his previous record mark of 4.60 meters he set at the 2020 GSC Indoor Championships.

On Sunday morning, the 4x400-meter relay team of Du Toit, Boya, Campbell and McCain finished first at the KMS Invitational. Their combined time of 3:13.15 met the provisional qualifying mark of 3:16.27.

"Our men's 4x400 relay put together an amazing performance, running all alone from the start," added Morgan. "We have more time we can drop over the coming weeks."

Caleb Eagleson finished third in the 5000-meter run. His time of 14:30.81 was under the provisional mark of 14:33.04. Dawson Reed was sixth (14:37.89), while Will Stone (14:43.05) and Thomas Kelton (14:44.17) were eighth and ninth, respectively. Silas Eckenroad (14:52.54) was 12^th, Casey Guthery (14:54.44) was 13^th and Ezekiel Harless (15:36.05) was 14^th.

Campbell won the 200-meter dash with a time of 21.93 seconds. Caleb Guthery finished fourth in the 800-meter run with a time of 1:57.69. Andrew Hendry covered the 3000-meter run in 8:55.79 to place fifth.

Stine added a third-place performance in the high jump. The reigning GSC Freshman of the Week cleared 1.95 meters. Teagan Lenox tied for fifth with a high jump of 1.85 meters. Derek Flatford placed seventh with a long jump of 6.54 meters. Cunningham placed ninth with a triple jump of 11.92 meters.

The Flames will take a week off before traveling to Winston-Salem, North Carolina, for the Camel City Invitational the weekend of Feb. 5-6.