MEET NOTES

CANYON, TEXAS – No. 2/3 West Texas A&M will host one final meet on Sunday, May 16, before competing at the NCAA Division II Outdoor Track & Field Championships later this month. The annual 'Last Chance' meet is tentatively scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. with the women's shot put.
 
COACH STEW AND THE CREW TAKE CARE OF BUSINESS
Matt Stewart was named the Lone Star Conference Coach of the Year after leading the Buffs and Lady Buffs to the team titles. After winning five straight indoor titles on th women's side since taking over for Darren Flowers in 2017, Stewart led WT to outdoor titles for the first time in his tenure in as they scored a combined 502 points. 
 
THE MAN, THEY MYTH, THE AZAMATI
Benjamin Azamati continues to rewrite the record books as he broke the NCAA DII 200-meter record during Saturday's final running 20.13, .02 faster than Bryan Bridgewater's record set back in 1992. He also broke the conference championship record in the 100-meters running 10.03 in the prelims. He was named the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) National Athlete of the Week along with picking up the Cap Shelton Award, given to the top male track athlete of the outdoor championships. 
 
28 POINTS FOR MS. NELLOMS
Taylor Nelloms earned the David Noble Award given to the top female field athlete of the championships after scoring 28 points. The freshman started the meet with a victory in the triple jump with the second-best mark in all-conditions in NCAA DII history. She followed that with a victory in the high jump with a clearance of 5-5.75 (1.67m) followed by a runner-up finish in the long jump with her first leap of six meters. 
 
IN THE RANKINGS
The men's and women's teams remained ranked in Top 5 of the NCAA Division II National Rating Index released by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) on Tuesday. 
 
The Lady Buffs remained third for the third straight week while the Buffs moved up three spots to second, their second-highest ranking in program history. 
 
THIS OPPORTUNITY COMES ONCE IN A LIFETIME YO
Fresh off his fifth-place finish at the LSC Championships, Desmond Aryee will run the 100m dash as he currently ranks 29th with his altitude adjusted 10.53. Ezekiel Kipchirchir will be joined in the 3,000-meters steeplechase by Innocent Murwanashyaka and Ahmed Omer. 
 
For the Lady Buffs, Florance Uwajeneza and Seselia Dala have their eye set on getting into the Top 13 of the 5,000-meters. They will be joined by DBU's Madison Brown, who ran 16:21 earlier this month. 
 
The women's 4x400-meter relay of Leah Belfield, Nele Heinrich, Valda Kabia and Alan Wilson currently rank 20th in the event. They will need to shave off more than a second off their season best to hop into the Top 13. 
 
LOOKING TO MAKE AN IMPRESSION ELSEWHERE
Daniel Haymes and Briggs Wittlake will hit the road in search of moving up the descending list. The duo will give the 10,000-meter one more try in Golden, Colo. at the Mines Friday Last Chance. Haymes ranks 55th on the descending order list after running 30:28.16 at the Lee Flames Invitational. Wittlake enters the race with a PR of 31:16.20, which was run at the San Francisco State Distance Carnival in 2018. 
 
UP NEXT
The participants for the 2021 NCAA Division II Outdoor Track & Field Championships will announced on NCAA.com on Tuesday, May 18, at 5 p.m. CT.