SEARCY, Ark. --
Emery Crayton and
Dwayne Fleming were named Men's Most Valuable Athletes after Oklahoma Baptist University earned runner-up accolades during the 2026 Great American Conference Outdoor Championships. The three-day conference meet was hosted by Harding University.
The Bison finished in second with points while host Harding won with 279. Rounding out the top three schools was Ouachita with 88.5 points.
Wednesday's Highlights
Matthew Werschem earned the team's first event win during the hammer throw. He threw 55.45 meters (181-11.0). Then during the 10,000 the Bison had the second-, third- and fourth-place finishers. That order was
Damien Williams, Crayton and
Zachary Williams who ranged in times from 30:58.68 to 31:09.86. Those marks warranted All-GAC honors while
James Williams also earned all-conference accolades with an eighth-place finish.
Also of note, freshman
Wyatt Willoughby earned sixth place in the hammer with a throw of 45.78m (150-2.0).
Thursday's Highlights
OBU started the day completing the decathlon.
Maddox Motley finished in fourth, which qualified him for All-GAC Second Team recognition, with 6,082 points. Motley posted the top javelin (50.19) and high jump (1.87) marks of the group.
Ethan Vandevier took seventh place scoring 5,625 points. Vandevier had a trio of second-place marks: high jump (1.84), long jump (6.47m) and 400 (49.97).
Willoughby later registered a seventh-place, All-GAC finish in the shot put (14.29m).
Friday's Highlights
The last day of competition started with a bang, as
Nathan Goodson took runner-up accolades in the high jump. His performance of 1.99m was followed up with fifth- and sixth-place marks from
Walker Hembree and
Aaron Lyle.
A few events later, Willoughby continued his strong effort with a fourth-place, All-GAC Second-Team effort in the discus. He threw 48.12m (157-10.0).
Arguably the best win of the day followed in the 4x100 relay. Fleming,
Gage Spencer,
Kobe Brown and
Caden Peevey clocked a 39.96. That was an OBU outdoor record, GAC meet record and Harding facility record. Right after that, OBU dominated the 1,500.
Korban Murphy won, crossing the finish line in 3:52.38. Teammates D. Williams,
Cameron Langdon,
Ira Gikas,
Ethan Banks and
Josh Kearse then controlled two of the next seven placements as the Bison tallied 32 points in that event.
Ayo Toritsju earned the Bison's next victory in the 400. He won in 46.86 which was a NCAA qualifying mark. Brown followed in fourth to earn All-GAC Second Team honors.
Fleming notched the green and gold's next win. In the 100-meter dash, he timed in at 10.27 which was a GAC and facility record. Spencer and Peevey also scored points in the race, earning sixth and seventh place, respectively. A few events later, Fleming was the top finisher again. With a time of 20.68, he tied the GAC record, held by former OBU athlete Blake Bartlett (2016), and broke the previous facility standard (20.83).
Murphy then won another race, this time in the 800. He posted a 1:50.97 time which was a GAC and facility record. Gikas also placed, coming in sixth with a time of 1:55.82.
Down the stretch, Crayton and D. Williams went second and fourth in the 5,000 while Z. Williams earned sixth. Lastly, Spencer, Brown, Peevey and Isaiah Bottorf earned a bronze finish in the 4x400. That group completed the final event in 3:16.20 and earned All-GAC First Team honors.
OBU will now wait and see which of its athletes qualify for the NCAA D2 Outdoor National Championships held between May 21-23 at Emporia State.
