Keron Stoute approaches the bar during the 2012 NACAC U23 Championships in Mexico
FEBRUARY 18—Keron Stoute won the MEAC Indoor Championships Heptathlon to help Bethune Cookman Wildcats to a third place finish—their best ever in conference—after amassing 76 points.
The championships were held at the Prince George S&L Complex in Landover, Maryland.
Stoute, who also placed fourth in the High Jump which came just after competing the 1000m in the Heptathlon, also earned the programs first ever Co-Outstanding Field Performer accolades in its history.
In amassing 4659 points to stand on top of the pile, Stoute ran 7.05 seconds to win the 60m and racked up 861 points. He picked up 707 points after leaping 6.54m (21’5½”) in the Long Jump. Stoute then followed up with a Shot Put heave of 11.40m (37’5”) good for second place and 507 points.
He added his second victory on the program when he leapt 1.99m (6’6¼”) in the High Jump—his pet event—and added 794 points. That was followed by a 60m Hurdles third place finish in 8.78 seconds for 795 points, before he cleared a height of 3.26m (10’8”) in the Pole Vault to finish sixth, adding another 418 points towards his final tally.
In the 1000m the seventh and final event on the Heptathlon program, Stoute was 10th in 3 minutes, 16.25 seconds to earn 516 points and the victory with 4659 points.
Stoute became the 11th BVI athlete since 1979 to win a collegiate conference title and a combined 18th overall—9 titles in the last 4-years. It also marked the fourth straight year that one of the territory’s athletes have been a conference champion. The territory’s athletes have won titles in eight different collegiate conferences.
In the open High Jump, Stoute cleared the bar at 2.01m (6’7’) for his fourth place finish. “Although I didn’t jump as high in the High Jump, everything else came together, where I didn’t have to run the 1000m as hard which was kind of the plan so I could have some sort of energy in order to High Jump,” Stoute explained. ”It’s a good feeling to win the MEAC title, one thing of a list of goals. Hopefully, next time I’ll be at nationals for the Heptathlon. This year was kind of a test run.”
Morgan State Jr. Britney Wattley also competed at the MEAC Championships. She had a non-advancing marks of 7.77 seconds in the 60m and 25.68 in the 200m.
This weekend, Portland State Vikings Sr. Dominique Maloney will compete in the Big Sky Conference Indoor Championships in Bozeman, Montana.