From July 7-August 5, GoASU.com will recap Appalachian State University athletics' 30 most memorable games, matches and meets from the 2009-10 academic year. Check back daily to relive the excitement from a fantastic year!

Men's Track Takes Second Consecutive Indoor Title

February 25-26, 2010

CLEMSON, S.C. – Appalachian State men's track and field won its second straight SoCon Indoor championship, and seventh since 2000 by holding off rival Western Carolina with several clutch performances in the meet's final events by a count of 209-207.

Junior Malcolm Styers completed a sweep of the throwing events for the second year in a row. A day after claiming the shot put crown, the Hickory native made it two-for-two with a career-best toss of 60-10 to claim the weight throw title. Teammates Tim Daly and Jerod Gardner claimed fourth and fifth place finishes with career-best tosses of 56-2 and 55-8.50 respectively.

Senior Matt Boruff fell short of his third consecutive heptathlon crown, but still earned all-conference honors for the Mountaineers Friday with a second-place finish. Boruff tallied 4919 points on the strength of a first-place effort in the 60m hurdles and a second-place finish in the pole vault, but ultimately fell shy of Western Carolina's Matt Evans, who posted 4998 points. Boruff also took home runner-up honors in the 60m hurdles, posting a career-best effort of 8.31 to finish behind WCU's Cordell Livingston.

Landon Powell and John Svoboda earned all-SoCon recognition in the 60m dash with second and third place finishes. Powell's 6.91 effort earned runner-up honors behind Western Carolina's Dominique Young, while Svoboda's career-best time of 6.94 was good for third place. Svoboda also claimed a second-place finish in the 200m with a 22.15 time, while Powell just missed all-conference honors with a 22.43 mark to finish fourth.

In the 400m dash, Svoboda claimed yet another second-place finish with a season-best time of 49.15. He was joined on the medal stand by junior Nick Zeller, who earned all-SoCon recognition with a career-best time of 49.18 to finish third overall.

Graduate student Patrick Morgan claimed a conference title in the mile run with a 4:13.70 effort to edge UNC-Greensboro's Joey Thompson. Freshman Alex Taylor also earned all-conference honors with a season-best time of 4:14.84 to finish third. Brandon Hudgins (4:15.24, 4th place) and Josh Houser (4:15.49, 5th place) also added top-five finishes for the Mountaineers.

Hudgins also took home a conference championship for the Mountaineers in the 800m run with a season-best effort of 1:54.14. Senior Nick O'Keefe placed fourth in the 800m with a time of 1:55.95, while Taylor (1:55.95) and Houser (1:56.13) finished fifth and sixth, respectively.

With just the 5000m run and the 4x400m relay remaining, the Apps found themselves facing a two-point defecit to Western Carolina. Graduate senior Patrick Morgan and sophomore Sean Soderman stepped up and provided crucial points in the 5k. Morgan finished with a personal-best 14:47.99 to earn a fifth place finish while Soderman came up with a personal-best time of 14:49.10 to earn a seventh place finish. These two efforts produced six crucial points that enabled the Mountaineers to clinch the title with a second-place finish in the 4x400.

The 4x400m relay team of Nick Zeller, Tyler Combs, Landon Powell, and John Svoboda stepped up and clinched the title for Appalachian in a highly competitive race. The Mountaineers posted a time of 3:20.47 to outdistance The Citadel by just.13 seconds to earn a second-place finish and clinch the team title in a thrilling end to the championships.

Notes:
Friday's win marks the 21st conference championship since Coach John Weaver took over the men's program in 1995, and the seventh since 2000.

Trey Jones, Landon Powell and Alex Taylor were named to the SoCon all-freshman team.

GoASU.com's 30 Most Memorable Games of 2009-10
30. Football 52, Georgia Southern 16 (Oct. 24, 2009)
29. Men's Tennis 6, Davidson 1 (Apr. 18, 2010)
28. Women's Tennis 4, Charlotte 3 (Apr. 8, 2010)
27. Women's Indoor Track and Field SoCon Championship (2nd) (Feb. 25-26, 2010)
26. Men's Soccer 3, Alabama A&M 2 (Sept. 11, 2009)
25. Softball 7, Virginia Tech 5 (April 7, 2010)
24. Casey Johnson Wins Men's Golf Spring Hill Suites Intercollegiate (Sept. 15, 2009)
23. Women's Outdoor Track and Field SoCon Championship (2nd) (April 25, 2010)
22. Wrestling 21, The Citadel 16 (Jan. 24, 2010)
21. Volleyball 3, Samford 2 (Oct. 11, 2009)
20. Baseball 5, Furman 4 - 10 innings (April 3, 2010)
19. Field Hockey 3, Sacred Heart 2 (Aug. 29, 2009)
18. Women's Soccer 2, Davidson 0 (Sept. 27, 2009)
17. Men's Basketball 93, Harvard 71 (CIT First Round — March 17, 2010)
16. Women's Basketball 66, Samford 55 (Feb. 15, 2010)
15. Football 30, The Citadel 27 OT (Oct. 3, 2009)
14. Women's Basketball 66, College of Charleston 64 OT (Jan. 18, 2010)
13. Men's Indoor Track and Field SoCon Championship (1st) (Feb. 25-26, 2010)
12. July 25
11. July 26
10. July 27
9. July 28
8. July 29
7. July 30
6. July 31
5. August 1
4. August 2
3. August 3
2. August 4
1. August 5