The KSU men’s indoor track and field team captured their second consecutive Atlantic Sun Indoor Championship on Sat, Feb. 23 in Johnson City, Tenn. The Owls tallied 228.5 total points, defeating their in-conference rivals, East Tennessee State, by 44.5 points. It was the largest margin of victory in conference history. The victory marked the first ever back-to-back championship win for the Owls. The Owls claimed their fourth championship in six years, winning the A-Sun indoor title in 2008, 2010, 2012 and 2013. The team brought great pride to themselves and to their university, as their total points were the most ever by a KSU championship team.
Photo courtesy of Kennesaw Athletics “The men were unbelievable across the board and they blew me away and the competition,” Head Coach Andy Eggerth said. “It was really exciting to watch as the guys went above and beyond what was projected of them.”
The Owls were able to build on their first place lead after they finished the first day with 63.50 points and were sitting 16.5 points ahead of East Tennessee State. The Owls claimed a first place lead after the first day with one title win by Robert Harvey. Harvey won the shot put toss with a score of 15.85m to claim the first win in the event for KSU since 2010.
The Owls claimed three runner-up performances with Nabil Hamid, Michael Owenby and Rasmus Rooks all grabbing silver on Friday. Hamid finished the 3000m run with a time of 8:31.15, beating his personal best by 11 seconds. Owenby finished second in the pole vault with a height of 4.75m, while Rooks leapt to a second place finish of 7.42m in the long jump. The Owls also grabbed points from Andre Dorsey, Bilal Abduliah and Greg Moxley in the event.
On the second day of competition, it was Dorsey who led the way for the Owls. The sophomore claimed two titles on Saturday, taking the gold in the triple jump and the high jump. He also placed in the shot put and the weight throw, earning the 2013 Most Valuable Performer of the meet.
“Andre had a phenomenal weekend,” Eggerth stated. “We entered him in a lot of events and he did well and scored points in almost all of them. He just flat out killed it.”
Dorsey’s performance fueled his teammates, as KSU claimed two more titles on Saturday. Martynas Sedys won the weight throw with a distance of 18.82m. Tyshawn Smith, Raegan Beal, Sadio Diallo and Zac Davis won the 4×400 with a finish of 3:16.56. Their wins locked the championship victory for the Owls.
Diallo also won silver in the 200m, finishing at 21:48. Davis finished second in the 400m at 48.74. Hamid fought his way to a second place finish in the 5000m with a time of 14:49.84.
Abdulah finished second in both the 60m hurdles and the high jump, while Harvey finished behind Sedys in the weight throw.
KSU will open the outdoor portion of their season on Friday, March 8 at the Coastal Carolina Invitational.
