COLUMBIA, S.C.— Victors of three consecutive outdoor conference team titles, the Montreat men's track & field team put its streak on the line Thursday through Saturday at the Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) Men's Outdoor Track & Field Championships in Columbia, S.C. Battling the conference's best athletes, the Cavaliers racked up six event wins, 12 all-conference efforts and 30 scoring performances for 163 team points, good for second out of 13 scoring squads. Montreat trailed only Milligan, who won the AAC team title with 196 points.
Individually,
Dustin Blevins was named AAC Men's Outdoor Track & Field Most Outstanding Athlete for being the meet's highest-scoring athlete.
The Cavs didn't tally an all-conference nod on Thursday night, but they did manage to notch four scoring efforts across the javelin and the 10,000m. Combined, those showings resulted in 10 team points, meaning Montreat sat in fourth place overall through just one day of action.
A trio of event wins, seven all-conference nods and 13 scoring efforts allowed Montreat to wrap up day two in second with 94 points. Blevins did much of the heavy lifting on Friday by playing a direct role in all three championships.
A native of King, N.C., Blevins crushed his competition in the 100m dash. Utilizing a time of 10.41 seconds, the fifth-year track & field star claimed an event title while simultaneously meeting the NAIA "A" standard and breaking the Cavaliers' program record. Not to be out done, Blevins nearly broke another school-best time in the 4x100m relay.
Kaleel Stevenson,
Juan Arce,
Cameron Rice and Blevins fell just 0.02 seconds shy of eclipsing the program's top time. Even so, the relay squad managed to claim another win and hit an "A" standard with their 40.86-second race.
Blevins' third championship from Friday came in the long jump. Leaping to an "A" standard mark of 7.44m, Blevins beat out a teammate for the top spot on the podium.
Gregory Curry II also captured all-conference recognition with his runner-up 6.88m effort. That proved to be one of two runner-up performances for Curry II on Friday as he also ended second by clearing 1.96m in the high jump.
Montreat totaled two other All-AAC nods on Friday. In the 1500m,
Dylan Branch met the NAIA "B" standard while placing second with a 3:52.53. Meanwhile,
Edward McClellan finished third in the pole vault via his 4.20m showing.
Five different Cavs garnered all-conference honors on Saturday, with three of them taking home event titles. Branch followed his runner-up 1500m race from Friday with an individual championship in the 3000m steeplechase. Coasting past the previous school record by roughly 15 seconds, Branch topped his competition with an "A" standard time of 9:04.55.
Blevins secured his fourth title of the meet during Saturday's triple jump. Also hitting an "A" standard, Blevins reached 14.87m to defeat an 8-jumper field. Curry II achieved All-AAC status in the event as well, launching himself 13.65m into the jumps pit.
Wyatt Wilson won his third AAC 5000m race walk title on the final day of action. The Shelby, N.C. native needed just 27:14.34 to beat the other participants and claim 10 team points for the Cavaliers.
Montreat's fifth and final all-conference showing from Saturday came from
Davis Nicol in the decathlon. Nicol led the field of 11 multis athletes midway through the competition, and he concluded second with 4,676 points, merely 110 behind the winner.
"Another great effort from our men this weekend," said Jason Lewkowicz, Director of Cross Country and Track & Field at Montreat College. "The guys battled the elements and competed with toughness and togetherness. The conference was better than ever this year, and the guys should be proud of their collective effort—the coaching staff sure is!"
For a complete look at results from the AAC Men's Outdoor Track & Field Championships, click
here.
The Montreat men's track & field team now turns its attention toward preparing for the national meet, a process that starts with the Liberty Twilight Qualifier on May 1 in Lynchburg, Va.
