Michael Rodgers gave Oklahoma Baptist its first event title of the 2007 NAIA Outdoor Track and Field Championships Friday and inched the Bison closer to a possible team title.

Rodgers won the men’s 100 meters in 10.21 seconds, beating McKendree’s Orion Nicely by .13 seconds. Dominique Matthews, seeded ninth in the 100, just missed qualifying for the finals.

The Bison got a few unexpected points from decathlete Jonathan Hilton. Hilton was seeded fourth in the decathlon, but after winning the high jump on Thursday, moved up with a win in the 110 hurdles and finished second overall. He also finished fifth Friday in the 1500, sixth in the discus and eighth in both the javelin and the pole vault. He finished with 6633 points and was within 100 points of first place.

Lamar Baskin, the favorite in the 110 hurdles, finished second with a 14.21.

OBU advanced in the 4x100 relay with the top time – 40.59 seconds.

Ross Harlan and Lamar Baskin moved to the finals of the 400 hurdles with the second- and third-best times at 52.77 and 52.92, respectively.

Durrell Williams moved on in the 800 meters, but he did so without two teammates. Williams had a seventh-best semifinal time at 1:51.85. T.J. Lightsey missed the finals in 10th by 5/1000ths of a second at 1:52.229. A.J. Carter was 13th in the semis at 1:52.54.

Theron Stoltzfus advanced in the 5000 meters with the 12th best time at 15:16.67.

OBU’s 4x400 relay moved ahead with the third-best time, 3:10.99.

The Bison, with one final left in the Friday schedule, were in third place at 8:30 p.m., Friday, with 31 points. Azusa Pacific was in first at 38, followed by Doane with 32.

OBU took second in the women’s 4x800 relay in 8:55.97 with Kyli Bean, Amanda Mayfield, Kisha Gaspard and Shayna Legg.

The Lady Bison advanced two runners in the 400 hurdles. Sherene Pinnock moved into the finals with the second best semifinal time at 1:01.39. Optimum Baker, seeded 20th in the event, made the final nine with a 1:02.63 – the sixth best semifinal time. Ebonique Wilson, seeded 19th, was 12th in the semifinals and did not advance.

Pinnock also advanced in the 400 meters with the best time, 53.70 seconds.

The women’s 4x100 relay team moved to the finals with the second fastest time – 46.95 seconds.
Amanda Mayfield (first, 2:12.60) and Kyli Bean (fourth, 2:15.26) advanced to the finals of the women’s 800 meters. Kisha Gaspard finished 12th at 2:15.69.

OBU was 22nd with eight points through 10:30 p.m., Friday, with two field event finals left on the overall schedule, including the triple jump, where the Lady Bison have Abby Lewis.

OBU’s 4x400 relay team advanced with the third fastest time at 3:52.27.

OBU is in eight men’s and eight women’s finals on Saturday.