BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – After day one of the Gulf South Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships the No. 9 Lee Flames sit in second place. The event is being staged at the Birmingham Crossplex.
Christian Noble got the Flames started on the right foot as he won the 5K with a time of 14:37.29. In typical Noble fashion, the All-American sprinted past the competition over the final 400m to capture the victory.
"It's joy to be out here and I'm glad I could be out here for my team," said Noble. "We went out pretty slow but over the next seven to eight laps I picked up the pace. I made my final move with about three laps to go after Mississippi College's runner took the lead and just went for it from there. I want to win a team title and pick up a few more individual conference titles and hopefully some national championships in Pittsburg, Kansas."
Daniel Surman gave Lee a big lift as he soared to the pole vault title, clearing 4.60m.
The men's distance medley relay team of Aaron Himes, Stacen Cunningham, Titus Lagat, and Hayden Judge finished second with a time of 10:00.60.
Lee tallied 48.50 points on day one and sit 7.50 back of Alabama Huntsville. Mississippi College is just a half point back of the Flames in third at 48.
200 prelims were phenomenal today and I think that sets us up nice for tomorrow. We had a couple of freshmen with Stacen Cunningham and Titus Lagat in the distance medley and they stepped up and helped us with a second place finish," said Lee head coach Caleb Morgan. "Tomorrow we've got two other really good teams competing with us in UAH, and last year's champion, Mississippi College so we have to really be prepared to give our very best in each event and it should be fun to see how it shakes out."
School records were falling like crazy for the Flames on Tuesday. Jeremiah McCain fired out of the gate and broke his own school record with a time of 8.14 in the 60m hurdles preliminary.
The Flames are searching for their second indoor crown after winning in the inaugural event in 2020. The men were unable to compete last year due to COVID-19 issues.
The final day of the GSC Championship will begin tomorrow at 10 a.m.
