By: FVSU Office of Sports Information

Last weekend's Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) Championships proved to the perfect setting for an undermanned Fort Valley State University (FVSU) Men's Track & Field Team to show that true champions do not concern themselves with the size of their contingent, but instead concentrate on the size of the contribution they can make to their team, regardless of its size. 

This was the spirit that fueled the FVSU Men's Track & Field Team as they competed last weekend.  Undaunted by the fact that they simply did not have enough participants to win the conference title, individual performances by the Wildcats provide the clearest evidence of a team full of pride and passion.

Exhibit number one!  FVSU's Keon Melson ran and jumped his way to a first place finish in the 400 meter hurdles with a time of 54.1.  Not too far behind was teammate Roger Chaney who finished third with a time of 54.4.

Exhibit number two!  Tyreece Cole wasn't such a long shot in the long jump with his jump of 7.35 meters.  The leap was good enough to land him in first place in the conference championships.

Exhibit number three!  Actually, you should probably make it four!  The FVSU foursome of Keon Montgomery, Quartez Strickland, Aaron Allen, and Chaney posted a time of 40.99 in the 4x100 meter relay to claim sole possession of the conference title in this event.

Exhibits four, five and six include Keon Montgomery's second place finish in the 400 meters run (48.15); his third place finish in the 200 meter run (21.43) along with Quartez Strickland's fourth place finish (21.63); and the 4x400 meter relay second place finish by Montgomery, Melson, Chaney, and John Brown with a time of 3:13:58.

While the fifth place finish for the Wildcats leaves room for improvement, few who witnessed their determination, drive and spirit during the championships can say that any improvement is needed in these areas.

-Wildcats Athletics-