BATON ROUGE, La. – Similar to how individuals await their birthdays or Christmas on a yearly basis, Grambling State head track coach Bertram Lovell marks his calendar with championship dates. Led by record-breaking freshman and 2009 SWAC Most Outstanding Track Performer Darwin Price, Lovell captured another indoor track championship as the Grambling State men’s track team cruised to the title during the 2009 SWAC Indoor Track and Field Championships in Baton Rouge, La.
The Tigers finished the meet with 162.5 total points and ran away with the title as their nearest competitor finished 58 points behind. Grambling’s men did it in dominating fashion also as they set the tone on Saturday with first place finishes in four of the five scoring events.
Issah Nelson got things started for GSU on Saturday with a first place finish in the shot put after a throw of 49-05. Darrius Lavalais followed in the high jump (6-10) with a first place mark while the tandem of Deangelo Waller and Jacquecar Robinson finished 1-2 in the long jump with jumps of 24-3 and 23-07, respectively. Price was the fourth consecutive performer to finish first as he won the 3,000-meter run with a time of 8:44 while the distance medley team narrowly missed out on making it 5-of-5 in first place finishes on Saturday as they came in second with a run of 10:25.
On Sunday, Grambling began where it left off as they captured five of the top eight spots in the weight throw to total 16 points while Travis Joseph claimed second in the triple jump (48-06).
Lavalais struck again with a second place mark in the 60-meter dash (7.0) and a third place finish in the 400-meter dash (50.2) while Price walked out with another first place medal in the mile run as he posted a time of 4:21. Waller clinched second place in the 200-meter dash (22.8) while Price once again showed no signs of freshman jitters as he won the 5,000-meter run (15:16) with a 20-second lead. GSU closed out the meet with a third place finish in the 4x400-meter relay after running a time of 3:18.
In his first-ever SWAC Championship Indoor Meet, Price was head and shoulders above the rest of the competition as he tallied 30 points. In addition, Price also set SWAC records in the mile and 5,000-meter runs.