By: Seth Stogsdill, Assistant Director of Athletics Communications
SATURDAY RECAP
CONWAY, Ark. - The Southern Athletic Association wrapped up its conference championships for track and field on Saturday afternoon and Centre's men's squad finished in second place overall with 137.5 points.
The first event of the day was the discus and senior discus specialist
Bryce Whitman finished in second place with a throw of 137-8.
Jesse Vaughn also entered the scoring column in the discus with a throw of 124-3. In the javelin,
Carter Broome had the best finish of the day for Centre, taking eighth place with a throw of 149-8.
In the men's 5k,
Matthew Gray came in eighth place with a time of 16:14.60.
Freshman
Aaron Bastian got onto the podium in the triple jump, finishing with a mark of 45-3.75 to take third place.
The high jump was one of the strongest events of the day for the Colonels with a trio of scorers. Senior DeMontre Lewis had the best finish for the Colonels with a mark of 6-0 for third place overall, while
Thomas Burkey and
Mykal Bright each cleared 5-10.
In relays, the team of Bastian,
Henry Gunner,
Thomas Jordan and
Tanner May finished eighth in the 4x100m with a time of 58.75. The 4x400m relay squad of Gunner, May, Burkey and
Pete Shipley placed sixth overall with a time of 3:33.61.
May also scored for the Colonels in both sprints, taking seventh in the 200m at 23.30 and fifth in the 100m at 11.40. In the 800m,
Noel Dingle finished in fifth place with a time of 58.75.
The Colonels had five of the eight scoring times in the 110m hurdles, led by Gunner and Burkey, who made it to the podium with respective times of 15.65 and 16.22. Jordan, Bright and
Patrick Gago all scored for Centre in the 110m hurdles as well. Centre also had three scorers in the 400m hurdles, with Burkey leading the way with a third place time of 56.69.
FRIDAY RECAP
CONWAY, Ark. - The Centre men's track and field team wrapped up the first half of competition at the Southern Athletic Association Championships at Hendrix. Through six scored events, the Colonels hold the slimmest of leads, half a point, over Rhodes.
The Colonels finished with 56.5 points through the first six scored events. The meet started with the long jump and three Colonels performed at a personal best as
Henry Gunner,
Thomas Jordan and
Thomas Burkey all got into the scoring column. Gunner led the way with a mark of 22-1, good for second place overall.
Burkey scored in his second event in the pole vault, tying for fifth place with a clear of 12-5.25.
Centre also had three scorers in the shot put. Senior
Hunter Gann had the best throw of the day for the Colonels at 46-8.75, finishing in third place.
Allen Richardson finished right behind Gann at 46-0.5, and
Bryce Whitman snuck into the scoring column at 42-4.75, earning a critical point for Centre by a foot and a quarter.
The Colonels did even better in the hammer, with five of the eight scorers in the event. Gann once again had the best finish, placing third with a mark of 154-5. Whitman, Richardson,
Jesse Vaughn and
Carter Broome also scored points for Centre, who picked up 18 of the 39 possible points in the event.
In the distance events, the Colonels had a pair of scorers in the men's 10k.
David McGrade finished seventh with a time of 33:31.66, followed immediately by
Matthew Gray in 34:09.58. In the 3000m steeplechase, senior
Keenan Jones finished in fourth place with a time of 9:54.46.
ALL-SAA
Individuals who finish in the top three in their respective events earn All-SAA honors. Below is a list of Centre's All-SAA winners for men's track and field.
SECOND TEAM
Henry Gunner (long jump, 110m hurdles)
Bryce Whitman (discus)
HONORABLE MENTION
Aaron Bastian (triple jump)
Thomas Burkey (110m hurdles, 400m hurdles)
DeMontre Lewis (high jump)
Hunter Gann (hammer, shot put)
NEXT UP
Centre track and field will use the next month of meets to try to qualify individuals for the NCAA Tournament. The first of these meets will be the Dr. Keeler Invitational at North Central College on May 9-10.
