Morgan, Nambawa Voted Most Outstanding Field Performers

Junior Carl Morgan was voted the Men's Most Outstanding Field Performer after winning the triple jump, placing second in the long jump and finishing sixth in the javelin at the SBC Outdoor Championships over the weekend. (MT)

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. - Middle Tennessee's Carl Morgan and Sarah Nambawa were both voted Most Outstanding Field Performer while Festus Chemaoi was named Freshman of the Year and Zamzam Sangau was the Top Women's Meet Scorer at the Sun Belt Track and Field Championships this past weekend in Denton, Texas.

The awards were announced late Sunday at the conclusion of the conference championships at Fouts Field in which the Middle Tennessee men placed second and the women finished third.

Morgan won the triple jump on Sunday with an NCAA regional qualifying and personal-best mark of 51-8.25, the best mark by a Blue Raider since Rob Jordan's 51-8.5 at the 2000 OVC Championships. It marked the 21st time a Blue Raider won the triple jump outdoors at the conference championships but the first time in the Sun Belt and the first time since Jordan in 2000. Morgan was also voted the Most Outstanding Field Performer at this year's SBC Indoor Championships.

Morgan also placed second in the long jump with an NCAA regional mark of 25-8, the best mark by a Blue Raider since Jordan's 25-9.75 in 1999. Morgan finished sixth in the javelin as well and was a member of the second-place 4x100-meter relay team, accounting for 23 total points at the meet.

Nambawa set a school-record in winning the triple jump with a mark of 44-2. It was a personal-best for the sophomore and the seventh best mark in the NCAA this season.

The Kampala, Uganda, native was second in the long jump with an NCAA mark of 20-5.25, the third best mark in Blue Raider history. She placed eighth in the 400-meters and was a member of the fourth-place 4x100-meter relay, posting 20 points during the three-day meet. Nambawa was also voted the Most Outstanding Field Performer at this year's SBC Indoor Championships.

Chemaoi continued his impressive rookie campaign, scoring in four different events, including winning the 3000-meter steeplechase on Saturday evening. Chemaoi, who was also voted the Freshman of the Year at the SBC Indoor Championships, also placed third in the 1500-meters, seventh in the 5000-meters and eighth in the 800-meters, running the last three events all on Sunday.

Sangau finished first in the 1500 and placed second in both the 800 and 5000, racking up 26 of the team's 109 points for the Blue Raiders. Combine her efforts with Nambawa and the two sophomores accounted for 42 percent of the team total.

WOMEN WILL BE BACK: The Middle Tennessee women had just two seniors on this year's club, Marjorie Gombert and Antranette Stringer. Only 13 female athletes made the trip to Denton, with 11 of the 13 contributing points, including the 50 combined points from Sangau and Nambawa as well as 22 points from sophomore Brittany Cox.

Overall underclassmen contributed 86.5 of the team's 109 total points, 77 percent of which came from Sangau, Nambawa and Cox.

AFRICANS PAY BIG DIVIDENDS: In addition to freshman Festus Chemaoi, the other three African distance runners on the men's squad, sophomores William Songock and Julius Kirui and freshman Isaac Biwott, were a big part of the Blue Raiders success over the weekend.

Chemaoi accounted for 19 total points in four events, but the men's team had 59 points in the five distance events, a far cry from the one point posted by the distance runners at the 2007 SBC Outdoor Championships.

Songock won the 5000-meters and was second in the 10000-meters, while Biwott finished fourth in the 1000 and Kirui placed third in the steeplechase and fifth in the 5000.

Freshman David Emery accounted for the other distance points, placing fourth in the 1500 and seventh in the 800.

CARLOS MORGAN ALSO HAS BIG WEEKEND: Even though his twin brother won the Men's Most Outstanding Field Performer Award, senior Carlos Morgan also enjoyed a great weekend for the Blue Raiders, posting three finishes in the top six as well a second-place showing in a relay.

Carlos Morgan placed third in the long jump with an NCAA regional mark of 24-11.75 and was also third in the javelin with another NCAA regional mark (208-4). He finished sixth in the triple jump with a mark of 48-2 and was a member of the second-place 4x100-meter relay, helping the squad with 17 total points.