JONESBORO, Ark. – For the third consecutive season,
Elliott Graves won the 400-meter hurdles to lead Appalachian State men's track & field on the final day of the Sun Belt Championships.
The Mountaineers finished in eighth place with 58 points. Texas State captured the team title with 122.5 points.
Graves kept pace on the opening stretch during the 400-meter hurdles and then used a strong finish down the home stretch to cross first in a season-best 50.30 seconds. He becomes the fifth athlete in men's outdoor program history to win three-straight conference titles.
The 4x100-meter relay tandem of
Brenton Ervin,
Jalen Virgil,
Jabari Johnson and Graves posted a season-best time of 40.44 seconds to finish second and earn All-Sun Belt honors.
Virgil also earned All-Sun Belt honors in the 100-meter dash. He placed second in 10.30 seconds, finishing .006 seconds shy of first place.
Graves also recorded an eighth-place finish in the 110-meter hurdles with a time of 14.60 seconds and Johnson was eighth in the 200-meter dash.
Peter Kenn earned his first outdoor all-conference honor in the hammer, with a toss of 181-7 (55.36m).
The Black and Gold had a strong showing in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, placing three runners in the top-eight.
Ryan Brown recorded a fourth-place finish in a PR time of 9:15.53.
Sawyer Gwyn-Rowsom finished right behind in fifth-place with a PR mark of 9:23.71 and
Zachary Mercer crossed eighth with a PR time of 9:27.97.
Tristian Shaver recorded a fourth-place finish in the pole vault, clearing 16-8.00 (5.08m).
Isaac Benz was sixth in the 10,000-meter run with a time of 31:11.27 and
Dakota Mendenhall registered a PR in the 1,500-meter run in 3:57.17 to finish seventh.
In the 5,000-meter run,
Gable Dershem crossed seventh with a time of 15:00.96 and Brown was right behind in eighth with a time of 15:01.18.
App State will now wait for an announcement from the NCAA for participants in the NCAA East Regionals from May 23 to May 25 in Jacksonville, Fla.
TEAM STANDINGS
1. Texas State, 122.5
2. Arkansas State, 117
3. UT Arlington, 109
4. Troy, 97
5. South Alabama, 89
6. Louisiana, 88
7 Coastal Carolina, 74.5
8. Appalachian State, 58
9. ULM, 57
10. Little Rock, 7
