ATLANTA, Ga. – The Benedict College men's track & field team took the early lead in the 2023 Cricket SIAC Championship on Thursday at Morehouse College's Edwin T. Moses Track.
 
The Tigers earned 45 points on the first day of events to have a 20-point lead over second-place Morehouse College. Lane is third with 11 points.
 
Benedict dominated the final event of the night, the men's 10,000-meter run. Donald Kibet won the race with a time of 32.26.96. Nelson Kipkemboi was third with a time of 34:11.17, and Ryusei Takahashi was fifth with a time of 36:18.49 to give the Tigers 20 points in that event.
 
The other two final events on Thursday were the men's long jump and men's shot put. The Tigers took the top two spots in the long jump as Rajaun Ricketts won the event with a jump of 7.13 meters (23 feet, 4 ¾ inches). Shun Taylor was second with a jump of 7.01 meters (23 feet). Kelvin Tillman was fourth with a jump of 6.85 meters (22 feet, 5 ¾ inches) as Benedict earned 23 total points in the event.
 
In the shot put, Chase Ransom finished seventh with a mark of 13.22 meters (43 feet, 4 ½ inches) to give Benedict two points.
 
The first day of the men's decathlon was completed with five events. Corey Witter stands in sixth place with 2495 points at the midway point.
 
Preliminary heats in four track events were also completed: The 400-meter hurdles, 200-meter dash, 800-meter run and 4x100-meter relay.
 
Friday's schedule continues with the finals of the men's hammer throw, men's triple jump, men's discus, men's pole vault, and 3,000-meter steeplechase. Preliminary heats will be held in the 110-meter hurdles, 1,500-meter run, 100-meter dash, 400-meter run, and 4x400-meter relay.
 
Live results are available here and live video is available here.