VMI Men

Big South Championships
VMI Press Release

Brickner, Denby, Arraiz, and Bozeman receive conference honors, Obuon repeats as 100-meter champion

LEXINGTON, Va. – The 2005 New Balance Big South Conference Men's and Women's Outdoor Track and Field Championships concluded earlier on Saturday at the H.M. "Son" Read '16 Memorial Track on the post of the Virginia Military Institute with the VMI men's team finishing in third place with 116 points and the women's team taking seventh place with 40 points. Both the men's and women's fields had eight teams participating during the three-day event which opened on Thursday, April 14. The men's team had their hands full with some very strong competition throughout the meet and managed to stay close in the team standings through the first two days before the gap between teams widened in the third and final day. In the end, Liberty won the men's team championship for the 12th straight year with 200 points while Coastal Carolina won the women's team title for the second straight year with 285.50 points.

However, the Keydets were not to be short changed on the third and final day as the men's team won two events and the women's team had one third-place finish, their highest on the day. Furthermore several Keydets were presented with conference honors in an awards ceremony administered by the Big South Conference at the conclusion of the meet. Senior Ty Denby (Scottsville, Va./Fluvanna Co.) and senior Gabriela Arraiz (Flint, Mich./Wayne State) were each named to the Big South All-Academic Team while Denby was also named the Big South Conference Men's Scholar Athlete-of-the-Year. It was the second Scholar Athlete-of-the-Year honor for Denby this school year as he also received the same award at the 2005 Big South Indoor Championships back in February. In addition, VMI coach Mike Bozeman, in his 20th year at the helm, was named Co-Men's Coach-of-the-Year along with Liberty head coach Brant Tolsma. Rounding out the awards for the Keydets was junior Garrett Brickner (Fairfax, Va./Lake Braddock) who was named the Big South's Outstanding Men's Field Performer-of-the-Meet.

In the final men's team standings, Liberty was followed by Coastal Carolina with 158 points. Charleston Southern followed VMI in fourth place with 111.50 points while Radford placed fifth with 74 points. Coming in sixth place was High Point while The University of North Carolina Asheville took seventh with 50 points. Winthrop finished eighth with 34.50 points. The final women's team standings were a little more spaced out. Liberty followed champion Coastal Carolina in second place with 230 points. From there, things dropped off with Charleston Southern taking third with 75.50 points and Radford placing fourth with 67 points. Winthrop placed fifth with 48 points while High Point finished sixth with 44 points. UNC Asheville followed VMI in the eighth and final spot with 23 points.

Sophomore Paulvince Obuon (Kisumo, Kenya.Chianda) won his second straight outdoor conference title in the 100-meter dash at 10.74, edging out Charleston Southern sophomore Nathan Breland (Walterboro, S.C./Walterboro HS) who took second for the second straight year. Junior Chris Brandriff (Chesapeake, Va./Western Branch) secured VMI's other first place finish on the day by winning the javelin throw with a mark of 199' 03".