NORFOLK, Va. – Norfolk State took care of business on the final day of the 2023 MEAC Indoor Track & Field Championships on Tuesday, securing the conference title for a second consecutive year.
 
NSU ended the meet with 180 points, 71 more than second-place Howard. Delaware State finished third with 80 points. With Tuesday's triumph, the Norfolk State men's track and field team has won 12 MEAC Indoor titles.
 
Gidion Sigei and Regan Kimtai were named Co-Most Outstanding Runners on Tuesday, completing a pair of excellent indoor seasons. Sigei, Kimtai, Kai Cole, and Isaac Haywood all earned first place finishes on the final day of competition to bring the hardware home for the Spartans.
 
Norfolk State head coach Kenneth Giles was named Most Outstanding Coach for a second straight year.
 
Norfolk State's distance runners dominated on Monday, sweeping the 5000-meter run. Sigei took first with a time of 14:43.07, while Kimtai followed closely behind (14:54.98) and Brian Rotich nabbed third. Victor Jumo also secured four points in the event, finishing fifth (15:06.83).
 
Jonathan Richardson and Rodric Cox-Cooper II also scored in the long jump, with leaps of 23 feet, 3.25 inches and 23 feet, 0.5 inches, respectively.
 
The Spartans carried that momentum into Monday, as Joshua Sutton took third in the high jump by clearing six feet, 8.75 inches. Isaac Haywood also nabbed a top-five finish in the event with a height of six feet, 3.25 inches.
 
The men's team stood highest on the podium once on Monday, as the 4000-meter distance medley relay team (Rotich, Dazon Harrison, Kimtai, and Sigei) outdid the competition, finishing with a first-place time of 10:12.53).
 
Competing throughout Sunday and Monday's action, Jahquan Christopher represented the Spartans effectively in the heptathlon, taking second place with 4,159 points.
 
Kalon Jeffrey opened the final day with a third-place finish in the pole vault, clearing a height of 12-feet, nine inches. Troy McWilliams also grabbed field points for the Spartans, finishing eighth in the shot put (47-6.25).
 
Haywood earned the Spartans first top field finish of the week, recording a triple jump of 50 feet, 0.5 inches. Cox-Cooper scored for NSU as well in the event, taking seventh with a distance of 46 feet, 4.0 inches.
 
The distance dominance continued on Tuesday, as Norfolk State took four of the top five spots in the mile run, led by Kimtai's winning performance (4:14.57). Sigei crossed the finish line next (4:16.30), before Jumo (4:19.49) and Rotich (4:20.00) took fourth and fifth, respectively.
 
The Spartans proceeded to sweep the podium in the 3000-meter run, as Sigei (8:34.60), Rotich (8:36.50), and Jumo (8:46.51) capped off a tremendously successful week of competition.
 
Kimtai continued his excellent showing in the middle distances, clocking a 1:53.95 in the 800 meters to take second place.
 
Cole, the reigning MEAC champion in the 60 meters and 200 meters, defended those titles successfully on Tuesday afternoon. He picked up a thrilling victory in the 60 with a time of 6.74, edging South Carolina State's Kristopher Brown by four hundredths of a second.
 
Cole had little time to celebrate, competing in the 200-meter final shortly after his first victory. It made no difference; the sprinter won the event comfortably with a time of 21.09.
 
Dwight Henry took fourth place in the 60-meter hurdles, finishing in 7.93 seconds.