Cavs Mint Five New All-Americans at NAIA Track Championships
JOHNSON CITY, Tenn.–On the final day of competition at the NAIA National Championships, five Concordia track and field athletes recorded All-American performances at the Mini Dome.
Overall, the men tallied 19 points to finish in 14th place while the women wound up with four points to conclude the championship in 30th. Azusa Pacific University (Calif.) captured its third straight men’s national title while Wayland Baptist University (Tex.) was crowned the women’s champion for the second consecutive year.
Senior Eric Burck (Ephrata, Wash.) registered the top showing of the day for Concordia with a third-place result in the 5,000. Burck covered the three-mile plus distance in a school record time of 14:46.
“Eric ran with the lead pack most of the way. He looked relaxed as he sat behind the leader but just didn’t have the wheels at the end. He did everything he could to put himself in the position to win the race,” Concordia head coach Randy Dalzell said.
Moving down in distance, the Cavaliers netted a pair of top-six performers in the 1,000-meter run with Martin Romero-Clark (Portland, Ore.) and Jessy Brown (Gresham, Ore.) crossing in fifth and sixth place. Romero-Clark toured the track in 2:28.67 for a new personal and school record while Brown finished a step behind in 2:28.79, also a new career best.
With Oklahoma Christian’s Josh Wayland leading the pack with a 2:26.45, the top four racers in the 1,000 final dipped below the 2008 championship time.
In the shot put, the Cavs received a pair of All-American honorees as Katherine Tripp (Sutherlin, Ore.) took fourth in the women’s shot and Eric Whalen (Tualatin, Ore.) finishing in fifth place on the men’s side.
With a 49-1 throw, Tripp set a new career best by more than a foot.
“Katherine was ready to go today. I know one of her goals was to go 50 feet,” Dalzell said. “She got extremely close on her first throw, which takes the pressure to hit that kind of mark right away.”
Naoimi Onyebuchi, competing for Huston-Tillotson, also threw a 49-1 but moved up to third place on the podium by way of a tiebreaker. The slimmest of margins separated second through fourth place as Jessica Becker of Bethany (Kan.) nipped the two by a half of an inch with a 49-1 1/2. Black Hills State senior Aubrey Baxter made sure that the title didn’t have to come down to a tiebreaker after unleashing 54-4 1/2 throw to win by more than five feet.
Using his third and final throw in prelims to advance to the finals, Whalen uncorked a 53-0 3/4 to boost into a fifth-place result in the men’s shot. Whalen came into the meet ranked No. 14 with a 51-11 3/4, but moved up nine places in the standings with the huge personal record.
“Eric has really come on in the shot. It’s quite a statement to become an All-American as a freshman, especially considering the shot isn’t even his primary event,” Dalzell said of the javelin specialist.
A day after finishing 12th in the long jump, Lakeesha Cadogan (Tacoma, Wash.) placed 14th in the triple jump. After opening with a foul, Cadogan landed with a 36-5 on her second attempt before improving to her mark to a 36-7 (11.15m) on her third and final leap. In the men’s triple jump, DeAndre Burton (Portland, Ore.) was measured in 45-2 while Jordan Trump (Portland, Ore.) cleared his opening height in the pole vault with the bar resting at 14-10 before bowing out of the competition at the next height. Joining Whalen in the men’s shot, Leon Carl finished in 18th place with a 49-6 1/4.
After winning last year’s men’s national title by just 3/4 of point, Azusa Pacific had a more comfortable winning margin (23.50) this year, by racking up 78.50 points, to defeat runner-up Dickinson State University (N.D.), which tallied 55 points. In a thrilling women’s finish, Wayland Baptist posted 68 points to defeat runner-up Azusa Pacific, which chalked up 67 points, by just a single point. It marked the second straight year that the Wayland Baptist women edged Azusa Pacific by one point for the title.
In the final women’s event of the championships, Oklahoma Baptist University pocketed the 1,600-meter relay victory with a winning time of 3:47.35. Azusa Pacific, needing a third-place finish or better in the event to earn the women’s team national title, finished fourth and was edged by Wayland Baptist by one point for the women’s crown.
Concordia Men’s Results:
1,000: 5. Martin Romero-Clark, 2:28.67; 6. Jessy Brown, 2:28.79. 5,000: 3. Eric Burck, 14:46. Triple Jump: DeAndre Burton, 45-2. Pole Vault: Jordan Trump, 14-10. Shot: 5. Eric Whalen, 53-0 3/4; 18. Leon Carl, 49-6 1/4.
Concordia Women’s Results:
Shot Put: 4. Katherine Tripp, 49-1. Triple Jump: 14. Lakeesha Cadogan, 36-5.
Concordia All-Americans
Men
2nd, Greg Schultz, Weight Throw
3rd, Eric Burck, 5,000
5th, Martin Romero-Clark, 1,000
5th, Eric Whalen, Shot
6th. Jessy Brown, 1,000
Women
4th, Katherine Tripp, Shot