LU Blue Tigers Set Two Records, Take Fifth At MIAA Indoor Championships

Jermaine Blake celebrates after breaking the
 meet record in the 800m.

JOPLIN, Missouri  -- The Lincoln men's track & field team broke two records en route to finishing in fifth place at the 2014 MIAA Indoor Championships on Sunday (March 2). Jermaine Blake helped set both of those record-breaking times at the three-day meet, which was hosted by Missouri Southern State University.

Blake broke the MIAA Indoor Track & Field Championship record in the 800m, winning the race in 1:52.12. He later teamed with Winston Edwards, Michael Ashley and Roger Blake for Lincoln's other victory of the meet, as the foursome broke the Leggett & Platt Center record in the 4x400m relay with a winning time of 3:18.42.

Ashley also had a busy meet, taking second in the 400m (48.61) and third in the 200m (22.14). In the 400m, Roger Blake finished sixth (50.66) while Edwards took eighth (54.18). In the 200m, Romone Hill also scored for Lincoln, finishing seventh with a time of 22.37.

The Blue Tigers tallied a pair of other third-place results. Hill rounded out the top-three in the 60m in 6.86 while Stallone Watson finished in the same place in the 60m hurdles (8.27). Edwards, meanwhile, came in fourth in the 600-yard (1:14.26).

Orneldo Thomas was the only Blue Tiger to score a point in the field events, taking eighth in the long jump with a distance of 6.95m. Watson also represented LU in that event, finishing 10th in 6.78m. Owen Smith also turned in a 10th-place result for Lincoln, finishing the triple jump with a mark of 13.87m. Hampton Mayson came in 20th in the shot put (12.82m) while Darran Hunter competed in both the heptathlon (10th, 4,460 points) and the high jump (13th, 1.93m).

As a team, the Blue Tigers accumulated 58 points to hold off Emporia State (50 points) for fifth place. Pittsburg State won the 2014 MIAA Indoor Track & Field Championship, scoring 130.50 points to hold off second-place Missouri Southern (129). Nebraska-Kearney finished third (115.20) while Central Missouri took fourth (77.20). Southwest Baptist (49), Lindenwood (38.20), Northwest Missouri (30.20) and Fort Hays State (24.70) rounded out the 10-team field.

Lincoln will now wait to see which of its athletes earned invitations to the 2014 NCAA Division II Indoor Track & Field National Championships, which will be held in Winston-Salem, N.C. from March 14-15.

Complete Results

Dan Carr, Assistant AD for Media Relations
LINCOLN UNIVERSITY ATHLETIC MEDIA RELATIONS