Championship Central
 
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – The Conference USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships began Thursday morning at the Dean A. Hayes Track & Soccer Stadium in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. Liberty and Kennesaw State held the top two places on both the men’s and the women’s side following day one of events.
 
For the men, Liberty collected a total of 54 points following a full day of action, leading second place Kennesaw State (40) and third place Western Kentucky (20.5). Things remained much closer on the women’s side; however, as the Owls and the Flames tied at the top spot with 20 points apiece. Closely trailing behind the two leaders is FIU who will go into day two with 19 points.   
 
Competition opened with the multis. The men’s decathlon completed half of its total events, including the 100-meter, long jump, shot put, high jump and 400-meter. After five events, Liberty’s Gabriel Willis leads the field with 4,007 points. Willis is coming off a successful indoor season where he captured the CUSA men’s heptathlon title. Fellow Liberty Flame, Jake Nicholson sits in second place (3,799), followed by UTEP’s Oleksandr Blonskyi (3,623).
 
The women completed four of the seven heptathlon events, scoring the 100-meter hurdles, high jump, shot put and 200-meter. FIU has two athletes in the top three at the conclusion of day one, with Itsaso Madariaga (3,320) leading the pack and Nyla Fulvi (3,177) sitting in third. Between the two Panthers is Liberty’s Patasha Bryan with 3,267 points.
 
Field events got underway in the afternoon, opening with the men’s long jump. Naming a champion came down to the final few jumps of the competition. Liberty’s Markus White led the field through five jumps, hitting 7.80 meters on his fifth attempt. However, on his sixth and final jump, LA Tech’s Cobe Johnson hit a personal best mark of 7.85 meters, putting him in first place. White had one attempt remaining; but, the junior came up just short, hitting 7.83 meters to secure the silver medal. WKU’s Myles Gentry finished third with a mark of 7.46 meters.
 
The men’s hammer throw finished next, with Kennesaw State’s Jase Hunter winning it all at a mark of 63.68 meters. Liberty’s Kellen Kimes took second after a strong final throw of 62.21 meters, followed by Sam Houston’s Nikos Fontinopoulos in third with a mark of 62.02 meters.
 
In the women’s hammer throw, Kennesaw State’s Kali Terza claimed the title by more than seven meters, hitting a personal best mark of 69.12 meters. That mark places Terza in the CUSA record books with the second longest championship throw in conference history. Also marking a personal best was FIU’s Janiya Cesar who finished second with a throw of 61.42 meters. Taking third with a throw of 59.91 meters was Liberty’s Sophie Gonzalez.
 
Defending her outdoor long jump title, Sam Houston’s Nia Thompson won the event with a personal best jump of 6.32 meters on her second attempt. FIU’s Nyla Fulvi (6.15m) took second and Sam Houston’s Taniah Coleman (6.11m) rounded out the podium in third.
 
Closing out field events for the day was the men’s pole vault. Sam Crenshaw out of Western Kentucky won the event with a personal best clearance of 5.35 meters, claiming both the indoor and outdoor title this season. Liberty completed the top three, with Reagan Wise (5.20m) taking silver and Todd Benhase (5.20m) finishing with bronze.
 
Track preliminaries began in the evening, featuring the 1,500, the 100 and 110-meter hurdles, the 400 and the 100. Finals for these events will take place Saturday evening with a scheduled start time of 6:15 p.m.
 
Day one wrapped up with the longest distance event of the weekend, the 10,000-meter run. The men raced first, with the majority of the race being led by MTSU’s Moses Lekokei and Kennesaw State’s Brian Limo and Collins Kipkemboi. The three raced shoulder-to-shoulder leading into the final lap before Lekokei took a surge at the end, winning the event with a time of 29:46.33. Limo finished second with a time of 29:50.52, followed by teammate Kipkemboi who crossed the line in 29:57.35.
 
Middle Tennessee was victorious in the women’s 10k race as well. Faith Nyathi claimed the title with a time of 35:07.53, leading second place Kinley Kunkel (35:11.75) from WKU and Isabela Ross (36:06.70) from Liberty.
 
Competition will pick back up Friday morning with the continuation of the multi-events. The decathlon’s 110-meter hurdles will kick things off at 9 a.m. CT on the track. Tomorrow’s events can be live streamed on ESPN+ beginning at 5:20 p.m. CT.
 
Full Schedule of Events
 
WHERE TO WATCH
Live results can be found here.
ESPN+ Streaming Links:
Friday, May 15 - 6:20 PM Live Stream
Saturday, May 16 - 5:50 PM Live Stream