The WKU men’s track and field team brought home first place from the Conference USA Indoor Track and Field Championship last Thursday for the second year in a row, while the women’s team won second place.

The championship took place in Birmingham, Alabama at the Birmingham Crossplex last week.

The Hilltoppers collected 135 points, beating the second place team, UTSA, by 15 points. This is the fourth indoor title the men’s team has managed to win in the past five seasons.

Following this season’s successful trend, juniors Ventavius Sears and Emmanuel Dasor contributed 51 of the team’s total points.

Sears captured the majority of those points. After winning two events and finishing in the top five of four other events his total was 31 points.  

According to a WKU press release, Sears was awarded the Men’s High Point Scorer of the meet award.

Dasor’s 400-meter dash time of 46.21 seconds was good for first place and broke not only a WKU record, but the Conference USA Indoor Track and Field record.

Sears followed close behind with a third place time of 47.14 seconds.

The Hilltoppers won all-around in the 200-meter dash, filling up all top four spots. Dasor came in first (20.89), followed by Sophomore Julius Morris in second (20.99) with Junior Kyree King in third (21.24) and Sears in fourth (21.31).

Junior Endalow Takele and Senior Vincent Wyatt dominated distance. Takele took second place in the 3000 meter and 5000-meter events while Wyatt placed first in the 60-meter hurdles.

Senior Ja’Karyus Redwine, King, Freshman Maor Reged, and Sophomore Grant Swinton comprised the men’s 4×400-meter relay team and finished with second place. Their time of 3:13.57 was .01 seconds behind the winning team, Southern Mississippi.

Also for the second year in a row, the Lady Toppers won second place behind UTEP at the championship with 106 points.

Junior Carrol Hardy had a successful showing after taking home the Women’s High Point Scorer of the Meet award. Hardy contributed 25 points with three top-five finishes.

Other notable awards and victories include Juniors Sandra Akachukwu and Jenessa Jackson who took home first place in women’s high jump and weight throw respectively.

WKU Head Coach Erik Jenkins was named Conference USA’s Men’s Coach of the year for the second year in a row.