Men’s track sixth in CAAs

For the JMU men’s track and field team, performances by juniors Pat Barron and Allen Carr, along with sophomores Dave Baxter and C.W. Moran were the highlights of this past weekend’s Colonial Athletic Association Track and Field Championships.

On the first day of competition, Moran set a 19-second personal record in the 5000-meter run to take third in the event with a time of 14:15.12.

"I was feeling good from the start," Moran said. "We got through about a mile and a half about six seconds faster than I wanted to. I was a little bit nervous at first, but I just decided to go with it."

In a competitive field that included two All-Americans, Moran finished just ahead of defending champion Keith Biechtol of the College of William & Mary.

Finishing just three seconds out of first place, Moran’s time was only a tenth of a second away from qualifying for NCAA’s East Regional, but he did meet the qualification standard for the IC4A Championships May 13-15.

The sole individual title of the day and the biggest gain in points came in the 1500 when JMU’s top middle distance runners Baxter and Carr upset William & Mary’s Ed Moran to finish first and second.

"I’m not surprised," assistant coach and distance specialist John McMillian said. "They’ve been training really well."

The pair let the University of Delaware’s Brad Dodson take the early lead. As the pack caught up to Dodson, Baxter retained his position at the front of the pack eventually winning in a time of 3:49.57.

Baxter’s time was a personal best and put him sixth on JMU’s all-time list.

Carr also set a personal record of 3:50.53 in the 1500 and came back an hour and a half later to take fourth in the 800 with a time of 1:52.91.

By winning his event, Baxter qualified for the NCAA East Regional. Coach McMillian was confident Carr could qualify as well.

"With his speed in the 800, running 1:52 tired," McMillian said. "He has enough speed to get the job done."

Junior Evan Kays also earned all-conference honors in the 800 finishing sixth, and running his best time of the year in 1:53.92.

Junior Pat Barron earned runner-up honors finishing second in the pole vault.

The throwing squad contributed to the team’s standings with sophomore Matt Bess earning all-conference honors in the hammer throw and freshmen Doron White and Teddy Kranis doing the same in the shot put. White was also all-conference in the discus.

Others earning all-conference honors were sophomore Dan Kiely in the high jump, freshman James Printz in the 10,000 and junior Paul Cawley in the 400-meter hurdles.