BOONE, N.C. - Appalachian State University men's track and field won its 17th Southern Conference Outdoor Track and Field championship Sunday afternoon and pulled off the rare feat of winning the triple crown, having won the men's cross country, men's indoor track and field and men's outdoor track and field titles during the 2009-10 seasons. ASU scored 263.5 points to win the crown, while runner-up Western Carolina had 242 points.
The conference crown marks the first time since 2004 that ASU won the outdoor title when the championships were held in Boone, (ASU hosted in 2007 and Western Carolina won the title) and the first time since 2005 that the Mountaineers swept both the indoor and outdoor titles. It also denotes Appalachian's first triple crown title since 2002-03 and just the fourth in school history. ASU is the only SoCon school since 1975 to have won the triple crown, and Furman is the only other current conference institution to have accomplished the feat, winning its lone triple crown during the 1961-62 seasons.
In the last event that took place Saturday evening, the javelin throw, Andrew Hill was the lone Mountaineer to compete. Hill threw a toss of 150-6, good enough for a ninth place finish in the event.
The decathlon events were the first to take place on the second day of competition.
In the 110m hurdles, Hill came in sixth with a time of 18.40. In the discus, he also took home a sixth place finish with a toss of 67-5. Hill was solid in the pole vault as well, finishing fifth with a vault of 10-2.
in the final two events of the decathlon, Hill moved into fourth on ASU's all-time list in the javelin with a toss of 153-8, finishing third and placed sixth in the 1500m run with a time of 5:41.94.
Hill placed sixth overall in the decathlon with 5352 points, also putting him in the record books at eighth on Appalachian's all-time list in the event. Chris Keithan of Samford earned the SoCon title in the event, posting 6355 points.
The excitement of day two of the SoCon championships continued as the team of Justin Thomas, John Svoboda, Dennis Moore and Landon Powell raced to a first place finish in the 4x100m relay with a time of 40.50.
Appalachian took home the conference crown in the relay for the first time since 2004, snapping a five-year drought (WCU won the event five years in a row), while Western Carolina came in second and the Citadel placed third.
The Black and Gold crowned yet another conference champion as Brandon Hudgins won the 1500m run with a season-best time of 3:53.51. Freshman Alex Taylor was impressive in the race as well, also picking up all-conference honors with a third place finish, running the race in 3:53.91. Senior Josh Houser also scored for the Apps, taking home sixth place.
Junior Malcolm Styers continued with his dominance in the throwing events, raking in his second conference title in as many days, as he cruised to a victory in the discus throw. Styers' toss of 165-10 was a personal best and good enough to move him up the rankings in the record books, putting him at fourth all-time.
Styers' title in the discus marks the third time in the past four years that an App won the crown (won it in 2007, 2008, 2010).
Teammates Jerod Gardner and Jared Stalling were stout as well in the discus, with Gardner finishing fourth with a throw of 155-2 and Stalling coming in seventh.
The Black and Gold's momentum did not let up as the afternoon progreseed, as Appalachian was also dominant in the 100m dash. Freshman Landon Powell won the title with a time of 10.50, bumping him into fifth on ASU's all-time in the event. Moore was also able to earn all-SoCon honors in the event, coming in third with a time of 10.66 and Justin Thomas placed fourth.
Powell's win in the 100m dash marks the first time since 2003 that an ASU athlete won the event, with Jason Green being the last Mountaineer to do so.
ASU was able to rack up points in the 110m hurdles, earning the second, third and fourth place spots. AJ Dohanic grabbed second place overall with a season-best time of 14.80, while Trey Jones grabbed all-league honors as well coming in third, and Matt Boruff took home a fourth place finish.
Three Mountaineers brought home points for the Apps in the 400m dash, with Svoboda, Tyler Combs and Nick Zeller earning the fourth, sixth and eighth place spots.
In the triple jump, ASU notched the sixth, seventh and eighth place finishes. Zeller leapt 44-4.75 to come in sixth, with Mike Wilson jumping 44-1.50 to earn a seventh place finish and DeSean Pearce jumped 42-8.25 to come in eighth.
Facing a defecit for most of the day, ASU continued to chip away at Western Carolina's lead as Taylor and Hudgins finished third and fourth in the 800m run.
Jones and Dohanic took the sixth and seventh place finishes in the 400m hurdles, with times of 56.93 and 58.98.
Appalachian had an impressive showing in the 200m dash earning the first, second, fourth and fifth place spots. A repeat winner on the afternoon, Powell captured the SoCon crown in the event with a season-best time of 21.51, whie Svoboda grabbed the runner-up spot. Moore and Thomas notched fourth and fifth with times of 21.66 and 21.90.
With Powell's victory in the 200m dash, he becomes the first App to win the crown since Carolina Panther wide receiver Dexter Jackson won it in 2007 and the first Mountaineer to win both the 100m and 200m dash title since 2003 when Jason Green did so. For his efforts, Powell was named both the SoCon Freshman of the Year, and Most Valuable Track Performer.
Thanks to strong performances in the shot put, Appalachian regained the lead as three Mountaineers brought in points for the Black and Gold. ASU was paced by junior Malcolm Styers who won the event with a personal best throw of 55-8.50, moving him into third on ASU's all-time list. Gardner placed second in the shot put, also earning all-SoCon honors with a throw of 50-11, while Stalling came in sixth.
With Styers shot put win, the Newton, N.C. native ran his weekend tally to three championships, with wins in the hammer, discus and shot and became the sixth Mountaineer in program history and first since 2008 when Wes Kiser to win all three. Styers was also named Most Valuable Field Performer and Most Outstanding Athlete, by virtue of being the meet's top overall point scorer.
Phil Mitchell capped off his senior season in style, as he won his second distance event of the weekend, capturing the title in the 5,000m run with a time of 14:53.82 to seal the win for the Mountaineers. Sean Soderman, Brian Graves and Alec Meyer all scored points as well, finishing fifth, sixth and seventh.
Mitchell's win not only clinched the SoCon outdoor title for ASU and won Appalachian its first triple crown since 2002-03 (fourth in school history), but the win also made him just the second Mountaineer in school history to win both the 5,000m and 10,000m titles. The only other Mountaineer to pick up victories in both was Will Dickerson in 1997.
Final Men's Team Standings
1. Appalachian State 263.5
2. Western Carolina 242
3. Samford 132.5
4. The Citadel 57.5
5. Davidson 44
6. Chattanooga 29
T7. Furman 21
T7. UNC-Greensboro
9. Wofford 3.5
Freshman of the Year
Landon Powell (Appalachian State)
Most Valuable Track Performer
Landon Powell (Appalachian State)
Most Valuable Field Performer
Malcolm Styers (Appalachian State)
Most Outstanding Athlete
Malcolm Styers (Appalachian State)
Coach of the Year
John Weaver (Appalachian State)
All-Freshman Team (ASU nominees only)
Andrew Hill, Alex Taylor, Trey Jones, Tyler Combs, Landon Powell, Justin Thomas, Brad Triplett
