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Dylan Lafond earned four first-place finishes and accounted for nearly one-fourth of University of Mount Olive's points as the nationally 24th-ranked Trojans won the 2014 Conference Carolinas Men's Outdoor Track and Field Championship at Banner Elk, N.C. The title was the Trojans' third in the last four years and also completed Mount Olive's "triple crown" this season: conference championships in men's cross country, men's indoor track and field, and men's outdoor track and field.
Lafond finished first in the 1500 meters, the 5000 meters, the 10,000 meters and the 3000 meter steeplechase to give Mount Olive 40 of its 172 points. He set conference championship records in the 1500 meters and the 3000 meter steeplechase.
Angus Sinclair won the high jump and scored in four other events to contribute to the Trojans' point total. Anthony Edwards finished second in the high jump and scored points in two other events. Austin Steagall finished second behind Lafond in the 5000 meters and the 10,000 meters.
Mount Olive trailed North Greenville by as many as 13 points until outpointing the Crusaders 34-4 in the 10th and 11th events to take the lead for good. The Trojans scored 24 points in the 3000 meter steeplechase as Lafond picked up 10 points with his win, Frederic Lang finished second for eight points, Erasmo Ordonez finished fourth for four points and Poi Domenech-Ferrer finished fifth for two points.
In the next event, Mount Olive finished first and North Greenville placed fourth in the 4x100 meter relay. Stedmond Hampton, Eric Jones, Cedric Thomas and Lamonte Taylor ran the relay for the Trojans.
Mount Olive posted a 43-point win over second-place North Greenville, the only other team in the seven-team field to collect at least 100 points. Limestone was third with 99 points, followed by King with 95 points.
The conference championship triple crown was the first in Trojan history.
"The triple crown was our guys' goal this year and they had a lot of confidence going into this weekend's meet," said Trojan head coach Matt van Lierop. "They carried the momentum from the cross country season to the indoor (track and field) season, and then carry from the indoor to the outdoor (track and field) season."