HUTCHINSON, Kan. - The Butler men's track and field team placed fifth overall at the NJCAA Division I Outdoor Championships on Saturday at Hutchinson's Gowans Stadium.
Butler scored 54 points at the three-day meet, finishing just two points behind fourth-place Hinds (Miss.). South Plains (Texas) won the meet with 126 points, beating out runner-up Barton by 28 points.
Sophomore Andre Ewers (100-meter dash) and freshman Tyson Penn (high jump) won individual titles in their respective events, while Butler had two runner-up finishes.
Ewers took top honors in the 100 with a time of 10.27 seconds, beating out Barton's Chedlin Sageese (10.33) to win the race. In the 200-meter dash, Ewers placed second by crossing the finish line at 20.83 seconds, getting edged out by Hinds' Keitavious Walter (20.76).
Penn cleared the high jump bar at 2.13 meters (6' 11-3/4") to win the event. Four competitors were tied for first, but Penn won a jump-off tiebreaker for the title.
Butler's 4x100-meter relay team of freshman Kyandre Lyons, Ewers, sophmore Akeem Sirleaf and freshman Travis Collins finished runner-up behind Hinds at 39.75 seconds.
In addition to Ewers' first-place finish in the 100, Collins (10.554) and Lyons (10.559) placed seventh and eighth, respectively, to give Butler three medalists in the event. Sirleaf was fifth in the 200 with a time of 21.08.
Sophomore Kendal McGuire placed fourth in the javelin at 52.02 meters (170'-8"), hitting the mark on his second throw during finals competition.
Butler placed in all three relay events, taking sixth in the 4x400 and eighth in the 4x800. The team of Sirleaf, sophomore Jamoul Pierre, Ewers and sophomore James Hambrick ran a 3:12.92 in the 4x400, while sophomore Boniface Kiptoo and three freshman - Joel Santiago, Eliud Koech and Derrick Reid) finished the 4x800 with a time of 8:05.53.
Kiptoo also placed seventh in the 800-meter dash with a time of 1:55.85.