Down by 32 points and sitting in sixth place entering Sunday’s pivotal events, the Hilltoppers pulled out a comeback for the ages on the men’s side as WKU won its second-straight Conference USA Outdoor Championship at Kidd Field on the campus of UTEP.
It marks the second consecutive year that WKU was in sixth place after Saturday and won Sunday evening in come from behind fashion, posting 144 total team points. The Lady Toppers placed sixth with a total of 67 points.
Head coach Erik Jenkins won his second C-USA Outdoor Coach of the Year award and Ventavius Sears earned the High Point Scorer of the Meet. Sears racked up 42 points and took first in the triple jump with a mark of 15.52m (50’11”).
A record that stood for over 13 years in the 100-meter dash was broken by WKU’s Julius Morris. The junior posted a time of 10.15, breaking Michael Frater’s (TCU) time of 10.20 on May 15, 2004, to place first and earn the Hilltoppers 10 points.
Morris didn’t stop there as he broke another decade-plus record in the 200-meter dash, clocking a 20.28 to take home the title and add another 10 points to the team’s total. The two runs were personal records for the Montserrat native.
WKU took the 200-meter dash by storm as they swept the event, having 1-4 wearing the Red and White. Morris (20.28) placed first, Emmanuel Dasor (20.55) finished second, Sears (20.58) took third and Eli Minor (20.75) crossed the line fourth to give WKU its first lead on the weekend.
Senior Endalow Takale in the 5,000m distance event placed fourth with a time of 15:18.06 earning five points, giving just a little bit of cushion to WKU’s first-place lead.
Now competing with a 2-point lead with only one more event left on the night in the 4x400m relay, the Hilltoppers stepped up and ran a 3:06.51 to take the crown and hold off UTSA, which finished in second place with 138 points.
On the women’s side, Khadijah Valentine shined posting a runner-up finish in the 100-meter dash (11.52) and placing third in the 200-meter dash with a time of 23.25.
Jadzia Beasley tallied two points total in both the 100- and 200-meter dash finishing eighth (11.94, 24.78).
In the relays, the Lady Toppers tallied a second place finish (45.04) in the 4x100m and placed third (3:39.02) in the 4x400m. The two relays consisted of Beasley and Valentine, and Peli Alzola, Ariel Terrell and Kaila Smith.
Smith and Terrell both competed in the 400m hurdles placing fourth (59.84) and fifth (55.12), respectively.
Jenessa Jackson turned in her best performance of the weekend, placing third in the shot put with a mark of 15.44m (50’8”).
In total, 10 individual Hilltoppers garnered all-conference while both relay teams on the men’s and women’s side churned in all-conference times as well.
Next up for the Hilltoppers will be the NCAA East Preliminaries on May 25-27 at Lexington, Ky., hosted by Kentucky.
All WKU point scorers are listed below:
MEN
100m – Julius Morris – 1st – 10.15 10 points
100m – Eli Minor – 4th – 10.36 5 points
100m – Will Bush – 6th – 10.51 3 points
200m – Julius Morris – 1st – 20.28 10 points (Record)
200m – Emmanuel Dasor – 2nd – 20.55 8 points
200m – Ventavius Sears – 3rd – 20.58 6 points
200m – Eli Minor – 4th – 20.75 5 points
400m – Emmanuel Dasor – 2nd – 45.43 8 points
400m – Ventavius Sears – 3rd – 45.55 6 points
4×100 – WKU ‘A’, Minor, Bush, Dasor, Morris – 1st – 39.41 10 points
4×400 – WKU ‘A’, Sears, Morris, Minor, Dasor – 1st – 3:06.51 10 points
110m hurdles – Jonathan Hayden – 2nd – 13.98 8 points
400m hurdles – Jonathan Hayden – 4th – 53.44 5 points
400m hurdles – Maor Seged – 5th – 53.45 4 points
5,000m race – Endalow Takele – 4th – 15:18.96 5 points
Long jump – Ventavius Sears – 1st – 7.71m (25’3.5”) 10 points
Long jump – Desmond Mobley – 3rd – 7.43m (24’4.5”) 6 points
High hump – Desmond Mobley – 3rd – 2.10m (6’10.75”) 6 points
Triple jump – Ventavius Sears – 1st – 15.52m (50’11”) 10 points
Triple jump – Desmond Mobley – 6th – 15.05m (49’4.5”) 3 points
WOMEN
100m- Khadijah Valentine – 2nd – 11.52 8 points
100m – Jadzia Beasley – 8th – 11.94 1 point
200m – Khadijah Valentine – 3rd – 23.25 6 points
200m – Jadzia Beasley – 8th – 24.78 1 point
4×100 – WKU ‘A’ Alzola, Valentine, Terrell, Beasley – 2nd – 45.04 8 points
4×400 – WKU ‘A’, Smith, Alzola, Terrell, Valentine – 3rd – 3:39.02 6 points
400m hurdles – Kaila Smith – 4th – 59.84 5 points
400m hurdles – Ariel Terrell – 5th – 1:01.44 4 points
Hammer – Jenessa Jackson – 5th – 55.12m
Discus – Jenessa Jackson – 6th – 46.64m (153’.0”) 3 points
Shot put – Jenessa Jackson – 3rd – 15.44m (50’8”) 6 points
Pole vault – Morgan McIntyre – 1st – 3.89m 10 points
Heptathlon – Catika Slay – 4th – 5,123 points 5 points
Men: 1st out of 10 teams with 144 points
Women: 6th out of 13 teams with 67 points
How to follow WKU Track & Field: For complete information on WKU Track & Field, follow the team on Twitter at @WKUTrackField.
-@WKUSports-
Lance Dozier
WKU Athletic Communications Assistant