KINGSTON, R.I. – After defending his title in the mile and going on to earn a second gold medal in the 3000m, Saint Joseph's men's track and field senior standout Zach Michon was selected the meet's Most Outstanding Men's Track Performer at the 2020 Atlantic 10 Indoor Track and Field Championships, held at the University of Rhode Island's Mackal Fieldhouse this weekend. Overall, the Hawks totaled 44 points to finish eighth in a field of 10 squads.

Michon had taken on the challenge of the A-10's rigorous mile/3000m double, with the mile beginning at 11:15 a.m. on Sunday and the 3000m beginning just two hours and 20 minutes later at 1:35 p.m., last season. He won the mile but came up third in the 3000m.

That wasn't going to happen again in his final go-around.

The senior crossed the finish line of the mile in 4:12.96, edging out Rhode Island's Kellen Waters by .56 seconds to claim his second consecutive A-10 gold medal in the event; Michon didn't lead until the last 100m of the race in an attempt to save energy for the 3000m. It worked, as he then went on to defeat George Washington's Wesley Robinson in the 3000m with a winning time of 8:26.12.

"Going into the A-10 meet, I had a big target on my back," said Michon following the conclusion of Sunday's awards ceremony. "It's a lot of pressure to try and defend a title when the A-10 is such a competitive conference. It felt great to be able to execute an effective race to get me the win in the mile. Coming back soon after in the 3000m came down to me just trusting my strength and being aggressive. My training had prepared me for races like that and being able to run back-to-back races. I'm grateful for Coach Glavin and Coach Tarello for pushing me to achieve this level of success."

"He earned it," said head coach Mike Glavin of Michon's Track Performer of the Meet recognition. "Zach Earned every second and every step that he has accomplished. Nothing comes to him by accident. He does so many things right."

Michon's two championship performances earned 20 points for the Crimson and Gray, 46 percent of SJU's total for the meet.

Junior Matthew Scarpill followed Michon's footsteps in coming up big in points.

On Saturday evening, the Distance Medley Relay showed what it means to run like Hawks by turning in an unconventional second-place finish for eight points. Matthew Coffey led off the relay but was clipped from behind on Lap 2 on the backstretch. The freshman got back up in last place by 30m but went on to run like an absolute veteran to get the squad back to ninth at the handoff. Sophomores Michael Welde and Michael Szwed took care of the 400m and 800m legs before Scarpill took the baton in fifth.

Head coach Mike Glavin figured fourth place was the goal at that point . . . but Scarpill had other plans.

The junior chased down all but URI for the runner-up finish in 10:14.98. Qualifiers will race the 2020 IC4A Indoor Track and Field Championships this Friday, March 6 through Sunday, March 8 at Boston University's Track and Tennis Center in Boston, Mass. A complete preview will be made available later in the week at SJUHawks.com.