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Men's Track wins fifth straight Mid-South Conference championship
By Matt Green
ROME -- The drive for five took shape on Saturday at Historic Barron Stadium. Fitting that the one for the thumb came in front the community that has helped Shorter University Track and Field develop into one of the best collegiate programs in the country.
Shorter's men's track squad won its unprecedented fifth straight conference championship with another dominant effort at the 2012 Mid-South Conference Track and Field Championships held for the first time at Rome's own Maddox Track. The Hawks, now favorites to repeat as NAIA national champions at the national outdoor meet in May, won the conference meet by 122 points.
Shorter compiled 268 points with the help of 12 championship performances on Saturday's final day of competition. In all, Shorter won 15 events to finish well ahead of runner-up Lindsey Wilson College (144 points).
The Hawks set meet records in the 100, 200 and 400 meter dashes. Kirk Wilson led a 1-2-3 Shorter sweep in the 100 with a time of 10.31 while Allen Huntley (10.53) and Nigel Talton (10.60) finished second and third, respectively.
Wilson doubled up by winning the 200 in 20.98 with Randy Dameron coming in as runner-up (21.20) and Adika Smith finishing seventh (25.20). Damerson turned around and earned a conference championship in the 400, crossing the line in 46.85. Malik Fair was second in the 400 in 47.96.
Eliud Ng'etich captured the 800 meter run championship (1:54.63) with Allen O'Neal (1:55.79) and Peter Limo (1:56.71) checking in at second and fifth. Oscar Ogwaro, already with a national championship under his belt, won another Mid-South title in the 5,000 meters (14:55.23) with Daniel Sorenson posting a runner-up finish (15:17.92).
Sorenson won his conference championship in the 3,000 steeplechase, running 8:56.92 to finish just ahead of Ogwaro (8:58.84). Trebor Holmes cruised to the 110 hurdle title in 14.33 and Kedemah Howard won the 400 hurdles in 55.90. Shorter's 4x100 relay squad of Huntley, Bradley Moon, Smith and Wilson rolled by nearly two seconds over the runner-up to capture the event title in 40.75.
In field events, Robert Harvey won the shot put with a toss of 50 feet, 8.75 inches. Daniel Alexis placed fourth in the shot (45 feet, 9 inches) and third in the hammer (145 feet, 3 inches) to score for the Hawks. Jeffrey Williams and C.J. Scott went 1-2 in the decathlon with Williams compiling 5,850 points and Scott registering 5,745 points.
