Berea, KY.- Over the weekend Berea hosted the USA South Track and Field Conference Championships. This was the first year that the USA South officially sponsored track and field. The top six athletes in each event were scored as 10-8-6-4-2-1. The Mountaineers competed over the two-day meet to earn a team total of 144 points and finish as conference runner-ups. Piedmont College won the championships with a 170 points.
The first day of competition began with the 3,000 meter steeplechase. Junior Logan McKenzie won the event in 9:51 while senior Corbin Flege placed 5h in 10:22. Later that night, Berea had numerous athletes score in the 10,000 meter run. Junior Landon Bond won the race in 33:44, freshman Tyler Little finished just behind in 2nd in 33:45, senior Kyle Young finished 4th in 35:52, and freshman Jose Villegas finished 6th in 36:31. Those athletes also competed in the 5,000 meters the following day where Landon Bond won the event in 15:25 with Tyler Little placing 2nd in 15:29, senior Tanner Carson 3rd in 15:37 and junior Logan McKenzie 4th in 15:38. In the 1500 meters, it was freshman Sair Salgado who won the event in 4:02 while Tanner Carson placed 2nd in 4:03, Logan McKenzie 3rd in 4:04 and freshman Johnathon West 4th in 4:04. Salgado also won the 800 meters in 1:56. 47 with Carson crossing the line in 1:56.49 to place 2nd, and West finishing in 1:49 to place 4th.
The 110 meter hurdles were contested on Friday where freshman Damian Bowe placed 8th in 16.25 seconds. Bowe also placed 8th in the 400 hurdles in 1:01.18 while senior Dave Bell placed 5th in 59.02. Sophomore Corey Carroll won the 100 meter dash in 10.91 and placed 5th in the 200 meter dash in 22.76 seconds. The 4x400 meter team consisting of Carroll, senior Issac Domenech, Salgado, and West ran 3:33.77 to finish in 6th place.
In the Javelin, junior Austin Weber threw 40.93 meters to place 3rd while junior Richard Brayton finished 9th with a throw of 35.40 meters. Brayton also placed 5th in the hammer (33.79 meters), 6th in the shot put (11.31 meters), and 9th in the discus (29.14 meters). In the triple jump, senior Dave Bell jumped 12.05 meters to place 6th. Bell also finished 4th in the pole vault (2.75 meters) and 5th in the high jump (1.70 meters).
The Conference Championships marked the conclusion of the season for many of the athletes. A few athletes will look to continue competing at Billy Hayes Invitational hosted by Indiana UNiversity on May 3rd.