
Edgar, Baugh win USTFCCCA NAIA Region Awards
The No. 3 Wiley College men’s track and field team received more honors as Marbeq Edgar won United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association NAIA South-Central Region Male Track Athlete of the Year and head coach Marlon Baugh won NAIA South-Central Region Men’s Coach of the Year.
Edgar and Baugh will receive their awards at the NAIA Track and Field Championship in Gulf Shores, Alabama. Edgar – who is the defending NAIA 800-meter run champion – continued where he left off. His time of 1:47.83 not only leads the NAIA – it broke a 19-year-old record in his home country of St. Lucia and set a Red River Athletic conference and Wiley College record. Edgar also set a program and conference record with is time of 3:52.40 in the 1,500-meter run – which ranks sixth out of NAIA Championship qualifiers. He also ran on the Wildcats’ RRAC record 4 x 400-meter relay (3:09.35) and 4 x 800-meter relay (7:37.48) teams. Edgar will look to defend his 800-meter run title at 2:20 p.m. Friday in the preliminaries. The final is 5 p.m. Saturday. He will run in the 1,500-meter preliminaries at 3:40 p.m. Thursday with the final at 3:10 p.m. Saturday.
Baugh led the Wildcats to their fourth straight Red River Athletic Conference championship with his men winning 11 events. With the title victory Baugh earned his second conference Coach of the Year Award. During the season, the Wildcats qualified for nine events at the NAIA Championship and lead the NAIA in four events – 100-meter dash, 400-meter dash, 800-meter run and the 4 x 400-meter relay. Baugh’s athletes have set eight team records and seven conference records. Baugh hopes to lead the Wildcats to the school’s first national championship.
The NAIA Track and Field Championship is Thursday through Saturday at Mickey Miller Blackwell Stadium in Gulf Shores, Alabama.