CU's Greg Schultz picked up his fifth All-American performance at the Indoor Nationals on Friday.
CU's Greg Schultz Takes Silver at NAIA National Track Championships
JOHNSON CITY, Tenn.—Senior Greg Schultz (Centralia, Wash.) became an NAIA All-American for the fifth time in his career with a second-place finish in the weight throw at the NAIA National Track and Field Championships on Friday.
Schultz led the competition going into the sixth and final throw with a new school record mark of 62-7 3/4 (19.09m), but Hastings (Neb.) senior Turner Scholl unleashed a 63-4 3/4 (19.32m) effort in the final rotation to capture the event title. Nearly two feet back of Schultz, Eastern Oregon’s Chris Dilley placed third with a 60-11 1/2 (18.58m) toss.
“Greg hit a huge personal record for the second straight year to put himself in the position to win,” Concordia head coach Randy Dalzell said. “You can’t ask more from an athlete than that.”
Schultz had a previous personal best of 60-5 3/4 set in a runner-up performance at the 2008 NAIA Indoor Championships. He placed seventh in the event as a sophomore in 2007. Outdoors, Schultz placed fifth in the hammer at the 2006 championships and second in 2007 before taking the title in 2008.
In preliminary heats, the Cavaliers advanced a pair of runners in the men’s 1,000-meter run. Junior Jessy Brown (Gresham, Ore.) was the first to cross the line in the initial heat with a time of 2:31.45 to gain automatic entrance into Saturday’s finale, while senior Martin Romero-Clark (Portland, Ore.) claimed third place in the second heat with a 2:29.23 to join his teammate. Romero-Clark’s time was good as the third fastest of the day.
“Jessy ran a perfect tactical race and looked very strong and relaxed. Martin was entered in the fastest heat and he sensed that if he just stayed with the leaders he would be just fine,” Dalzell said. “They both have a chance to place high and earn All-American honors tomorrow.”
A third member of the CU middle-distance corps, Cordero Cisneros (Grandview, Wash.), placed fourth in the third heat with a 2:33.68, missing the final qualifying spot by four places.
Brown entered the meet ranked fourth in the nation with a 2:28.89 performance to his credit while, Romero-Clark finished the regular season ranked sixth with a 2:29.35. Kirby Dunn, competing for Wayland Baptist, posted the fastest time of the day with a 2:28.70.
Recent cross country All-American, junior Eric Burck (Ephrata, Wash.) easily advanced out of the prelims of the men’s 5,000 with a time of 15:05.79, the second best time posted by the 31 competitors. Paul Robinson of Malone College nipped Burck at the line with a 15:05.53. Burck had the 10th best time entering nationals with a 15:02.92.
Competing in the women’s 3,000, Andria Scheese (Oregon City, Ore.) recorded a personal record with a time of 10:23.46 for the 13th fastest time of the day, one short of advancing to the finals. Concordia Irvine’s Violet Mokaya grabbed the final qualifying spot with a 10:20.51.
In the 5,000, Samantha Robert (Middleton, Idaho) placed 13th in the second heat with a 19:03.09, 16 seconds shy of her season-best time of 18:47.24 and 46 seconds off the final qualifying mark of 18:16.64.
In the only other event final for Concordia, Lakeesha Cadogan (Tacoma, Wash.) placed 12th overall with a 17-8 leap in the long jump. Cadogan, an indoor All-American last season with a fourth-place finish in the long jump, entered the meet with the No. 12 mark on the NAIA performance list with a season-best 18-2 1/2 set in early February. Cadogan is also entered to compete in the triple jump which takes place on Saturday morning.
Concordia Men’s Results:
1,000: 1. (Heat 1) Jessy Brown, 2:31.45; 3. (Heat 2) Martin Romero-Clark, 2:29.23; 4. (Heat 3) Cordero Cisneros, 2:33.68. 5,000: 2. (Heat 2) Eric Burck, 15:05.79. Weight Throw: 2. Greg Schultz, 62-7 3/4 (19.09m), [All-American, School record].
Concordia Women’s Results:
3,000: 13. Andria Scheese, 10:23.46. 5,000: 21. Samantha Robert, 19:03.09. Long Jump: 12. Lakeesha Cadogan, 17-8.