Murray State University Athletics
Korir Wins Fourth-Straight 5,000-Meter Title To Lead MSU At Vanderbilt Invite
4/18/2004 12:00:00 AM
Freshman distance runner Wesley Korir continued his recent dominance by winning his fourth-straight 5,000-meter championship to lead the Murray State men's track and field team to sixth-place overall in the 16-team Vanderbilt Invitational on Saturday in Nashville, Tenn.
Korir, a native of Eldoret, Kenya, dominated the field of 37 runners with a time of 14 minutes, 31.86 seconds to win the event by nearly 24 seconds over the second-place finisher. The win is Korir's third-straight in outdoor competition and the fourth-straight overall dating back to his win at the Ohio Valley Conference Indoor Championships in February.
Overall, the Racers scored 48 points finish ahead of such schools as Tennessee State in seventh with 33 points and Tennessee-Chattanooga in eighth with 32 points. Middle Tennessee State won the team title with 167 points.
Sophomore Derek Sargent also had a solid day with a second-place finish in the javelin throw with a distance of 173 feet, one inch to score eight points for MSU.
Other point-scorers for MSU included:
Tim Bradley, fifth, 5,000-meters, 15:19.60; Jeremy Burkeen, eighth, 5,000-meters, 15:33.07; Patrick Hammond, fifth, 3,000-meter steeplechase, 10:21.42; Chris Champion, fourth, shot put, 44-04.25; Brandon Manning, seventh, 110-meter hurdles, 15.79; Chris Hobbs, fourth, high jump, 6-02; Brian Edwards, third, pole vault, 12-06; Chris Champion, eighth, discus, 124-08.
Up next, the Racers will host the MSU Twilight Invitational on April 24 at Roy Stewart Stadium / Marshall Gage Track.
NOTE: All individual finishes listed in the story above are among collegiate competition only.
