Life University Athletics

WILLIAMSBURG, Ky. --- In their first season as a program, the Life University Men's Track and Field team completed the sweep of Mid-South Conference Titles, beating their nearest competition by over 30 points with a team score of 177 to bring home the Outdoor Championship Monday in James H. Taylor II Stadium.
 
The gap between Life U and the nearest team stands as the largest since the 2016 meet, Lindsey Wilson and Cumberland (Tenn.) rounding out the top three with scores of 143 and 142, respectively.
 
Out of 23 total events, the Running Eagles compiled a massive eight gold medals to go along with nine other silver or bronzes to see Life U with 17 All-Conference honors. For the team's dominant performance, head coach Dominic Demerrite was names as the MSC Men's Coach of the Year.
 
The event started Sunday with only a handful of events holding their finals on the day. The men's first gold medal came from Geovanni Hawes in the javelin throw with a distance of 51.79m, while teammate Michael Panzarino followed with a third-place finish at 46.62m to see the only All-Conference honors Life U would receive from field competitions. The other day one champion was Christian Figueroa with a time of 9:51.13 in the 3000m steeplechase.
 
Other day one point earners included: the 4x800m relay team of Patrick Faust, Gregory Ragland, Panzarino, and Zac Wright-Fisher taking fifth with a 8:08.20 and Daniel McNabb at fourth in the pole vault with a 3.80m height.
 
Monday the Running Eagles raced from the middle of the pack in the team standings to take the lead. The day started for Life U with a second-place finish in the 4x100m relay as the squad of Ngoni Chadyiwa, Phemelo Matlhabe, Markanthony Hayes, and Marvin Jean-Francois finished in a time of 41.91. Life U took another second in the next track event, Wright-Fisher finishing the 1500m run in a time of 3:59.41.
 
The Running Eagles picked up steam as the hurdles and short track events started, the first title on the second day coming in the 110m hurdles as Jean-Francois dominated the competition with an NAIA A-standard 14.46. The team got even more points from the event as Tyson Hallum also earned a podium spot with his third placed 15.19. The 400m dash followed and saw more of the same for Life U, Jacob Ulrich crushing the competition and the meet record with an A-Standard 46.79 to claim the title, while Ngoni Chadyiwa was close on his heals to take second with an A-Standard 47.04. Another title came immediately after, Matlhabe pulling up and pointing to the crowd as he won the event with a 10.66.
 
Quite possible the most dominant event of the meet for Life U came in the 400m hurdles, Jean-Francois winning with a B-Standard 54.42, while teammates Panzarino, Hallum, and McNabb took third, fourth, and fifth with times of 55.31, 55.78, and 57.16, respectively. Life U followed that up with another strong showing in the 200m dash, Matlhabe keeping his top spot in the NAIA and earning a meet record with his time of 20.62, and Chadyiwa followed him in second place with a time of 21.12 which is currently the 10^th best in the nation.
 
In the final long-distance run and penultimate event in general Life U surprised, bringing home second and third as Christian Colon and Wright-Fisher finished in times of 15:28.66 and 15:32.73, respectively. With the championship already in hand, Life U finished on a strong note, taking the title in the 4x400m relay. The grouping of Venord Burrows, Chadyiwa, Faust, and Ulrich finished in a meet record time of 3:14.76.
 
Other Running Eagles that recorded important points for the team on the final day of competition included: Figueroa at sixth in the 5000m race walk with a 29:40.26; Hawes at eighth in the shot put with a 13.08m throw and seventh in the discus with a mark of 38.63m; Panzarino at seventh in the 110m hurdles with a 16.57; Burrows at seventh in the 400m dash with a 49.65; Hayes at sixth in the 100m dash with a 11.05; and Faust at seventh in the 800m run with a 1:57.62.
 
The Running Eagles will now turn to the NAIA Outdoor Championships in Gulf Shores, Ala., starting May 25^th and running through the 27^th.