Men's Track and Field 5/6/2023 10:31:00 AM Scott Goode (5/6/23)

Harding Wins GAC Men's Track and Field Championship; Women Second (Full story to come)

SEARCY – A late update for the final two running events and the final field event:

Harding's top finisher in the women's 5,000 meters was Kylie Phillips. She placed 12th in 19:20.24.

Harding had six scorers in the men's discus. Kenneth Hatley was the Bisons' top finisher in second. He threw 51.34 meters or 168 feet, 5 inches. Kelmen de Carvalho was fourth, Jaden Zerby fifth, Seth West sixth, Moses Rivera seventh and Walker McGaughy eighth.

Harding had three scoring runners in the men's 5,000. Luke Walling was fourth at 15:25.58. Tom Valente was sixth at 15:55.66, and Noah Haileab was seventh at 16:00.91.

Harding placed second in the women's 4x400 relay in 3:52.33, and Harding's men were fifth in 3:31.88.

A final complete wrapup will follow.

SEARCY – Harding's Vlad Malykhin stamped his mark on the GAC Championships with a clearance of 5.71 meters or 18 feet, 8.75 inches, to win the men's pole vault and tie the second-highest pole vault mark in Division II history. It was the highest pole vault clearance by a Ukrainian born athlete in the last 12 years.

Ben Ferris was second in the pole vault at 4.91 meters or 16 feet, 1.25 inches; Jonathan Wall was third with the same height. Paul David Quillin was fifth at 4.81 meters or 15 feet, 9.25 inches. Zalen Robinson was sixth, Kylor Aguilar was seventh and Brandon Hanoch was eighth.

Harding's Kaia Bieker placed second in the 800 meters in 2:16.50. Dinah Winders placed seventh in 2:22.36.

Zach Reed placed second in the men's 800 in 1:55.09, with Tiag Campney third in 1:55.19, a new PR.

Lisa Retailleau placed second in the 400-meter hurdles with a PR of 1:01.44. Lauren Shell was sixth in 1:05.39.

Savian Bush placed fourth the 400-meter hurdles in 55.44, a new PR, and Drake Carnley was sixth in 56.19.

Briana Johnson placed third in the 200 meters in 24.80, a new PR.

Dakarai Bush smashed the school record in the 200 meters with a victorious 20.83 seconds, placing him among the leaders of Division II this season. Tad Kirby was second at 21.18 and Davion Smith was third at 21.40.

Harding placed fourth, fifth and sixth in the women's discus. Madison Hiteshew was fourth in 42.09 meters or 138 feet, 1 inch. Cooper Monn was fifth at 41.99 meters or 137 feet, 9 inches, and Kaylee Hausam was sixth at 41.41 meters or 135 feet, 10 inches.

SEARCY – Below is an update at 4 p.m.:

Harding's Dinah Winders was fifth in the women's 1,500 meters in 4:47.34.

Harding placed three in the top six in the men's 1,500 meters. Zach Reed placed third in 3:59.04, Jackson Pruim was fifth at 4:00.65 (new PR) and Noah Haileab was sixth at 4:00.67 (new PR).

Harding's Dakarai Bush broke his own school record and won the 110-meter hurdles for the third consecutive season. His time of 13.97 ranked in the top 10 in Division II this season and was a GAC meet record. Savian Bush was second at 14.27, also a new PR.

Lisa Retailleau placed second in the women's 400 with a new PR of 56.58. Kylie Hall was sixth in 59.99.

Dakarai Bush also won the 400 meters in 46.02, just off his PR of 46.00. Bush was Harding's first conference champion in the 400 meters since Kent Smith who won the event (then the 440-yard dash) in 1965. Bryan Singleton placed fourth in 48.63, and Samuel Williams was seventh in 49.70.

Briana Johnson placed second in the women's 100 meters in 11.87 seconds, the second-fastest time ever in the GAC meet by a Lady Bison and a new PR. She also moves into fifth on Harding's career performers list.

Tad Kirby won the 100 meters in 10.30 seconds, becoming Harding's first conference champion in the race since Chris Hill won in 1988 and breaking the school record of 10.37 set by Tony McCoy in 1984. Krishaun Watson was fourth in 10.71, Will Meredith was seventh in 10.89, and Jaxon Hardy was eighth in 10.92.

Male Teams

PL	Team	Code	Pts
1	Harding	HARD	192
2	Oklahoma Baptist	OKLA	143
3	Southern Arkansas	SOAR	111
4	East Central	EAOK	62
5	Ouachita Baptist	OUAC	25
6	Southern Nazarene	SOOK	7

Female Teams

PL	Team	Code	Pts
1	Oklahoma Baptist	OKLA	169.5
2	Harding	HARD	143
3	Southern Arkansas	SOAR	111
4	NW Oklahoma	NOOK	47
5	Arkansas Tech	ARKA	37
6	Ouachita Baptist	OUAC	28
7	Southern Nazarene	SOOK	23
8	East Central	EAOK	12
9	SE Oklahoma	SOO2	9
10	SW Oklahoma	SOO3	3.5

SEARCY – An update from the GAC Championship at 2:30 p.m.

Harding's Yves Bilong won the triple jump with a GAC meet record of 15.74 meters or 51 feet, 7.75 inches. It was a new school record, breaking the mark of 15.15 meters or 49 feet, 8.50 inches set by Bruce Baldwin in Memphis in 1979. HU's Anton Kopytko was third at 14.02 meters or 46 feet, Daniel Osoba was fourth at 13.38 meters or 43 feet, 10.75 inches.

Harding's Sierra White won the pole vault for the third consecutive season, clearing 3.82 meters or 12 feet, 6.25 inches. Karyna Vehner placed third at 3.67 meters or 12 feet, 0.50 inches. Lindsey Parker was sixth at 3.22 meters or 10 feet, 6.75 inches.

Harding had two athletes score in the men's shot put. Moses Rivera placed seventh at 14.53 meters or 47 feet, 8 inches, and Seth West placed eighth at 14.01 meters or 45 feet, 11.75 meters.

Harding's team of Johnson, Hall, Gautreaux and Nguema placed fourth in the 4x100 meters in 47.50 seconds, the Lady Bisons' best time of the season by almost a full second and the sixth-fastest in program history.

Harding destroyed a 39-year-old school record in the men's 4x100-meter relay. The team of Watson, Kirby, Smith and Bush won with a GAC meet record of 40.34 seconds. The old record was 41.11 set in 1986. It was Harding's first conference championship in the 4x100 relay since 1995.

Male Teams

PL	Team	Code	Pts
1	Harding	HARD	126
2	Oklahoma Baptist	OKLA	108
3	Southern Arkansas	SOAR	81
4	East Central	EAOK	49
5	Ouachita Baptist	OUAC	13
6	Southern Nazarene	SOOK	7

Female Teams

PL	Team	Code	Pts
1	Harding	HARD	120
2	Oklahoma Baptist	OKLA	109.5
3	Southern Arkansas	SOAR	81
4	Arkansas Tech	ARKA	29
4	NW Oklahoma	NOOK	29
6	Ouachita Baptist	OUAC	27
7	Southern Nazarene	SOOK	16
8	SE Oklahoma	SOO2	9
9	East Central	EAOK	4
10	SW Oklahoma	SOO3	3.5

SEARCY – An update from the GAC Championship at 1:30 p.m.

Harding had three scorers in the women's shot put. Anna Kay Clark placed fifth at 12.59 meters or 41 feet, 3.75 inches. Cooper Monn was sixth at 12.45 meters or 40 feet, 10.25 inches, and Kaylee Hausam was seventh at 12.42 meters or 40 feet, 9 inches.

Harding freshman Casen Hammitt won the javelin with a GAC meet record and PR of 57.78 meters or 189 feet, 7 inches. It was the sixth conference championship in the javelin for Harding since 2016. Freshman Ben Ferris placed second at 50.11 meters or 164 feet, 5 inches, and sophomore Seth West placed sixth at 43.90 meters or 144 feet.

Junior Mariah Miller won the women's triple jump with a mark of 12.29 meters or 40 feet, 4 inches, a new PR and Harding record. It was Miller's second GAC championship in the triple jump. She also won in 2021. Freshman Karyna Vehner placed second at 12.12 meters or 39 feet, 9.25 inches.

After these three events, Harding's men lead the team standings with 92 points, and the women are third with 67 points.

Male Teams

PL	Team	Code	Pts
1	Harding	HARD	92
2	Oklahoma Baptist	OKLA	87
3	East Central	EAOK	44
4	Southern Arkansas	SOAR	39
5	Ouachita Baptist	OUAC	9
6	Southern Nazarene	SOOK	2

Female Teams

PL	Team	Code	Pts
1	Oklahoma Baptist	OKLA	78
2	Southern Arkansas	SOAR	71.5
3	Harding	HARD	67
4	Arkansas Tech	ARKA	29
5	Ouachita Baptist	OUAC	25
6	NW Oklahoma	NOOK	18
7	Southern Nazarene	SOOK	10
8	SE Oklahoma	SOO2	6
9	East Central	EAOK	4
10	SW Oklahoma	SOO3	3.5

SEARCY - It's the third and final day of action at the Great American Conference Track and Field Championships at the new Ted Lloyd Track. Harding enters the day in second place in both the men's and women's team standings.

Field event finals Saturday include the men's javelin, shot put, triple jump, pole vault and discus. On the women's side, finals are set for the shot put, triple jump, javelin, pole vault and discus. Field events began at 10 a.m.

Running events begin at 2 p.m. with the 4x100-meter relay. Come back often for updates throughout the day and click on the live results link to follow along.

Standings entering Day 3

Male Teams

PL	Team	Code	Pts
1	Oklahoma Baptist	OKLA	76
2	Harding	HARD	71
3	East Central	EAOK	44
4	Southern Arkansas	SOAR	32
5	Ouachita Baptist	OUAC	9
6	Southern Nazarene	SOOK	2

Female Teams

PL	Team	Code	Pts
1	Oklahoma Baptist	OKLA	65
2	Harding	HARD	40
3	Southern Arkansas	SOAR	39.5
4	Arkansas Tech	ARKA	29
5	Ouachita Baptist	OUAC	25
6	NW Oklahoma	NOOK	18
7	Southern Nazarene	SOOK	10
8	East Central	EAOK	4
9	SW Oklahoma	SOO3	2.5
10	SE Oklahoma	SOO2	1