The Bisons won five individual events as Yves Bilong took first in the triple jump with a top effort of 15.53 meters. Vlad Malykhin claimed his third-straight pole vault title after he cleared 5.61 meters; Lukas Stiper won the discus with a throw of 54.88 meters. On the track, the Bisons dominated the sprints after Olaolu Olatunde won the 100-meter dash in 10.40 seconds and Caledon Ruwende won the 200 in 20.78 seconds. Ruwende and Olatunde ran the final two legs of the victorious 4×100-meter relay team. The quartet of Emmanuel Ragira, Samuel Williams, Ruwende and Derick St Jean closed out the meet with a win in the 4×400 relay. Don Hood earned the Coach of the Year award,
Oklahoma Baptist’s Carson Kardokus and Jentezen Smith each won two events on Friday. Kardokus became the third person in GAC Championship history to win the 800 and 1500 in the same season. He won the 800 in 1:53.63 and the 1500 in 3:59.46. Smith claimed both hurdles events. He won the 110 in 14.55 seconds and the 400 in 53.11 seconds. The victory in the 400 represented his second GAC title in the event. Sean Dixon notched a title in the 400 with a winning time of 47.50 seconds.
Southern Arkansas placed third followed by Northwestern Oklahoma State and East Central. The Rangers’ Aiden Kimberlin claimed victory in the high jump after he cleared 2.03 meters. The Tigers’ Melvin Kipkemboi established a GAC Championship in the 5000 with a time of 14:45.05.
Ouachita Baptist and Southern Nazarene rounded out the team standings.
The GAC also handed out its Elite Athlete Awards – Presented by Conway Regional Health System. Ouachita Baptist’s Noah Embrey, Jameson Flatt and Whit Lawrence received the award as all four own 4.00 grade-point averages. An additional 75 GAC standouts made the Academic Honor Roll.
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