　　Murfreesboro, Tenn. - The Western Kentucky University men's and women's track and field teams swept the Sun Belt Conference Indoor Championships this weekend at the Murphy Center on the campus of Middle Tennessee State University. For the Lady Toppers, it marks the fifth-straight indoor title, and the 13th-straight conference title for the program, having won every league cross country, indoor, and outdoor meet dating back to the first women's indoor title in school history in 2006. For the Hilltoppers, the 2010 title is the second title in three years, having placed second in the team scoring in 2009. Since 2000, the WKU athletic program has now captured 70 SBC conference titles among its 19 sports.
　　The Lady Toppers totalled 179.33 on the weekend, 69 points better than runner-up MTSU (110). North Texas finished third in the team scoring with 104.33, followed by Arkasas State (64), Troy (39.33), Florida Atlantic (38.5), UL-Monroe (35), South Alabama (33), Florida International (28), Arkansas-Little Rock (17), and UL-Lafayette (14.5). The Hilltoppers managed 136 points on the weekend to take the league title. Runner-up UNT scored 98 points, followed by ULL (92), MTSU (87), ASU (72), USA (69), ULM (65), UALR (29), and FIU (14).
　　Hendrik Themas earned the first all-SBC honor of his career, tallying 4,758 points to finish third in the men's heptathlon. He broke his own WKU standard in the event off the strength of five personal-best finishes among the seven events, including the 55-meter dash, 55-meter hurdles, 1,000-meter run, shot put, and high jump. Then, shortly after the conclusion of the heptathlon, themas managed a seventh-place finish in the open pole vault with a clearance of 14-7.25. In the men's triple jump, Andrejs Maskancevs placed fifth with a leap of 48-2.
　　It was a sweep for WKU in the men's throwing events, as Saturday's shot put champion Brian Soverns successfully defended his weight throw title from a season ago Sunday, recording a throw of 59-11.75. Finishing fourth in the weight was Buddy Price, who set a new personal standard of 56-7.25 to move to fourth on the all-time WKU performance list. In the women's weight throw, Monteka Flowers and Adesola Adeduro finishing second and third, respectively, to earn all-league laurels. Adeduro's second-round throw of 60-2 broke her own school record, while Flowers' third-round toss of 61-0 set yet another new school standard.
　　The Lady Toppers put four athletes into the scoring in the mile, including a sweep of the all-conference positions. Janet Jesang won the event in 4:51.99, while Marion Kandie was runner-up at 4:54.02, Vasity Chemweno was third at 4:57.81, and Eimear O'Brien eighth at 5:05.39. With those finished, Kandie moves to third all-time at WKU in the indoor mile, while Chemweno moves to fifth. Chemweno also earned all-league honors in the 800 meters with a runner-up time of 2:12.92 to set a new Lady Topper record in the event. In the women's 5,000 meters, Kandie took home the league crown with a time of 17:39.48, while O'Brien took runner-up honors at 17:46.56.
　　Kellie Morrison took home the SBC crown in the 400-meter dash, clocking an indoor personal best of 55.32, while DeAudrea Horne was fourth in the race with a time of 58.50. Morrison added another all-SBC honor in the 200-meter dash, clocking a runner-up time of 24.03 and moving to second all-time at WKU at that distance.
　　In the men's 400-meter dash, Ennis Jones claimed victory with a time of 48.17, while Terrill McCombs also earned all-league accolades with a runner-up time of 48.70. Also placing in the men's quarter was Gavin Smellie in sixth at 49.17 and Kendall Gregory in seventh at 49.19. Smellie and Jones earned all-SBC honors in the 200-meter dash, with Smellie taking runner-up honors at 21.37 and Jones placing third in 21.58.
　　In the men's mile, Patrick Cheptoek finished fourth with a clocking of 4:14.29, while Deus Rwaheru was eighth in 4:18.79. Karlis Daube finished sixth in the men's 55-meter hurdles, clocking a personal-best time of 7.51 to move to third on the WKU all-time list. In the 5,000 meters, Rwaheru collected all-SBC honors with a runner-up clocking of 14:28.69, while Shadrack Kipchirchir also earned all-league laurels with a third-place finish of 14:39.15.
　　Sharika Smith scored in three events Sunday, including a runner-up and all-SBC finish in the triple jump (39-8.75), fifth-place finish in the 55-meter dash (7.07), and seventh in the 55-meter hurdles (8.13). Also in the 55-meter dash, Shaycoya Myers finished sixth in 7.12 seconds, while Miaie Williams was seventh in 7.16. In the hurdles, Samantha Smith was sixth in 8.09 seconds, while also placing eighth in the 200-meter dash at 24.94.
　　Brian Soverns was named men's Most Outstanding Field Performer by the league coaches for his sweep of the throwing events. Janet Jesang was voted by league coaches as the women's Most Outstanding Track Performer. Also, head coach Erik Jenkins was named women's Coach of the Year by his peers, marking the ninth such honor of his career.　　
- WKU -
