BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Appalachian State University men's track and field finished in fifth place at the Sun Belt Conference Indoor Championships on Tuesday night with 74.5 points, one place and 8.5 points better than last season showing.

"The men's side is extremely competitive just like the women's, but with fewer teams, which makes for a tighter race," said head coach John Weaver. "The fact that we moved up and scored more points shows that we are at the threshold of what we're going to be able to accomplish with the men in this conference."

Overall, the Mountaineers turned in 15 scoring marks scattered between 12 events. App State's lone champion was Ryan Hastings who came in first for the 800. This season, Hastings has run the 800 five times and come in first for all of them. The sophomore was also the only Mountaineer to score in an event three times as he was part of a couple relay teams in the distance medley relay (third) and the 4x400 (fifth).

Joining Hastings as multiple-event scorers were William Buckley, Michael Ellis, Stanley Broaden, and Nathan Milch. The other Apps to add to the team total included Peter Ovendorf, Chris Anderson, Brandon Smith, Trey Edgerton, Evan Laratta, Andrew Harris, Evan Georges, Nick Hinton, Phillip Thomas, and John Leonard.

Buckley was awarded points in the 60 (fifth) and 200 (fourth), Ellis was in the 3,000 (fourth) and 5,000 (fourth), Broaden was in the 60-meter hurdles (second) and 4x400, and Milch was in both the shot put (second) and weight throw (fourth).

The Black and Gold scored with multiple student-athletes in three events including the shot put with Milch and Leonard (seventh), the 800 with Hastings and Ovendorf (eighth) and the 3,000 with Ellis and Anderson (seventh).

Edgerton and Smith made up the rest of the 4x400 while Hastings was joined by Laratta, Harris and Georges on the distance medley relay team. As for the other field events and the rest of those who scored, Thomas was third in the pole vault and Hinton tied for sixth in the high jump.

Final Men's Team Standings