BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- Appalachian State men's track & field eyes its first Sun Belt indoor title of Monday and Tuesday in Birmingham, Ala. Monday's field events will begin at 1 p.m. EST, with running prelims of the 800-meter run beginning at 5:30 p.m. EST. Tuesday's events begin with the triple jump at 1 p.m. EST and finals of the 400-meter run at 2:10 p.m. EST.
LAST SEASON
At the Sun Belt Championships last season, App State finished fifth of eight teams with 73 points. In all, the Black and Gold landed nine All-Sun Belt honorees, with five competing this season.
De'Shawn Ballard earned Second Team honors with a second place finish in the 200-meter dash, while
Jabari Johnson also earned Second Team honors after being a member of the 4x400-meter relay team. In addition, two members of the DMR team that was named Third Team All-Sun Belt in
Gable Dershem and
Sean Doyle return, as does
Jordan Dale, who earned Third Team All-Sun Belt honors in the high jump.
TOPS IN THE SUN BELT
Entering the conference championships, the Mountaineers own 14 spots in the top-eight of the Sun Belt in six events:
- 200-Meter Dash: 5. Jabari Johnson, 21.60; 8. De'Shawn Ballard, 21.70
- 3,000-Meter Run: 5. Michael Flanagan, 8:33.31; 8. Dakota Mendenhall, 8:38.13
- 5,000-Meter Run: 1. Gable Dershem, 14:59.66; 3. Ryan Brown, 15:09.46; 4. Ben Cignarale, 15:15.96; 5. Isaac Benz, 15:20.72; 6. Michael Flanagan, 15:21.75; 8. Lawson Benfield, 15:28.05
- 60-Meter Hurdles: 7. Elliott Graves, 8.18
- High Jump: t8. Jordan Dale, 6-7.00; t8. Daniel Lauffenburger, 6-7.00
- Pole Vault: 2. Tristian Shaver, 17-0.75
SUN BELT RUNNER OF THE WEEK
Gable Dershem was tabbed as Sun Belt Runner of the Week for his efforts at the Darius Dixon Invitational. At the meet last weekend, Dershem pulled away from the field to win the 5,000-meter run by over 19 seconds in a PR time of 14:59.66. His time bettered his previous PR by nearly four seconds. It marked the first Sun Belt weekly honor for Dershem.
