WINSTON-SALEM, NC - For the second straight season, the Claflin Panthers claimed the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) Men’s Indoor Track & Field Championship. The Panthers totaled 131 points to pull away for their second consecutive conference championship.
The Panthers dominated long sprints and middle-distance to power their way to the championship. The team scored 19 points in the men’s 800m run where senior Zion Murry took the win with a 1:55.29 while sophomore Jakarriez Sanders added a fourth-place finish with 1:57.70 and fellow sophomore Reginald Gore added a 1:58.26. The team also totaled 17 points in the men’s 400m run where senior Chandar Anderson took first place with a 48.92 while freshman Marcus Thomason added a fifth-place finish with a 50.78 and Murry added a fifth-place finish with a 59.21. The sophomore duo of Jonathan Flemister and Dezmond McDonald added 14 points in the men’s 200m dash. Flemister took first place in the event with a 21.73 McDonald placed fifth with a 22.61. The Panthers also picked up 14 points in the men’s mile run with Sanders placing second with a 4:35.96 while Gore added a third-place finish at a close 4:35.97. The Panthers’ 4x400m relay also had a great showing with a second-place finish at 3:19.32.
The Panthers also got some great performances in the field events. Claflin junior Jacolbi Morgan took a pair of first place finishes at the meet. He won the men’s high jump with a (2.03m) jump and he also won the men’s triple jump with a (14.93m) jump.
The win gives the Panthers their second straight CIAA men’s indoor track & field championship. The team will turn their attentions to the national stage where Murry and the Panthers’ 4x400m relay team will seek to improve their standings as NCAA Division II provisional qualifiers.
After leading the Panthers to the conference championship, Claflin men’s track & field head coach Malcolm Watts was named the 2023-24 Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) Men’s Indoor Track & Field Coach of the Year. The honors didn’t stop there as the Panthers also won the Dr. Freddie Vaughn’s Highest Team Academic Award.
For more information on Panthers track & field, contact the Claflin University Office of Athletics Media Relations at (803) 535-5548 or log on to www.athletics.claflin.edu.
