Columbia International University Athletics

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The CIU men's track and field team started bright and early on day two of the Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) Indoor Track and Field Championships on Friday. The meet which took place in the beautiful Norton Healthcare Sports and Learning Center, started on Thursday afternoon and went throughout the day Friday. CIU found their success early as they dominated in both the racewalk and the pole vault.

CIU's Brandon Bacon shattered the previous AAC racewalk record as he recorded a time of 14:20.63. Bacon took home 1st place in the event and now has the 7th fastest time in the nation. Bacon's teammates Nathaniel Wilburn and Jonathan Hicks came in 2nd and 3rd giving the Rams the clean sweep of the podium. Wilburn finished with a time of 15:29.37, while Hicks completed the race at 21:52.98.

As expected, the Rams cleaned up in the pole vault seizing 1st and 2nd place in the event. John Hunter James had the top mark in the event at 4.90 meters. James will be looking for his second NAIA Pole Vault National Championship when he competes at the NAIA Indoor National Championships in just over two weeks. Fellow CIU sophomore Blake Rimmer came in 2nd place as he finished with a height of 4.40 meters. Rimmer's teammate and family member Branson Rimmer came in 4th place at a mark of 3.90 meters.

Not to be outdone by his teammates Tavarres Berrian would show up for the Rams on the track. The Conway native flew to the finish line for a 1st place finish in the 600-meter run. Berrian's time of 1:23.94 was almost two seconds ahead of his the 2nd place finisher.

As a team, CIU had finished 6th overall in the meet.

Head coach Jud Brooker enjoyed what his team had to offer saying, "I am proud of guys placing 6th in a deep field. Our team is entirely underclassmen, so it shows that we have a bright future. Everyone showed up and gave maximum effort."

For full meet results, go to https://live.dcracetiming.com/meets/7059.