Concordia's Eric Burck is one of 34 CCC student-athletes competing in this weekend's NAIA Indoor Track & Field Championships in Johnson City, Tenn.
NAIA Indoor Championships Begin Thursday
NAIA Indoor Track & Field Championships Information
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The 45th Annual Men's and 30th Annual Women's National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) Indoor Track and Field National Championships – powered by Dex®, will commence from March 4-6 in Johnson City, Tenn. The event will take place at the ETSU Memorial Center “Mini-Dome,” with the men’s heptathlon and women’s pentathlon kicking-off the event on Thursday afternoon. Johnson City has hosted this event since 2001.
Representing the Cascade Collegiate Conference at the event will be student-athletes from Concordia, College of Idaho, Northwest and Eastern Oregon.
These Championships are action-packed with more than 1,100 student-athletes from 110 schools across the U.S. and Canada competing in 42 different events contested over three days. The heptathlon opens the Championships at 1 p.m. CST on Thursday with the pentathlon beginning at 1:30 p.m. The running events get started on Thursday at 4 p.m., with the 5000 Meter and relays. On Friday, there will be both running and field events. The Championship ceremonies begin at 12 p.m. on Saturday. The 2010 awards ceremony will occur at 4:30 p.m. on Saturday.
The Azusa Pacific (Calif.) men are proving to become a dynasty as the Cougars have won three straight team championships and six since 2002. The seven overall titles is a NAIA record. Last year, Azusa Pacific cruised to the team title with 78.5 points, which was over 23 points ahead of runner-up Dickinson State (N.D.). The Cougars are without long-distance runner Aron Rono, who ended his career with a national record-tying seven individual championships in his four-year stint. Junior Casey Stevick is the No. 1 seed in the Heptathlon. He took second in last year’s event with a total of 5,141 points. Kevin Reid, the 2009 Coach of the Year, also will expect big things from senior Anthony Logan, who was a part of last year’s Distance Medley first-place finish and ranked third this year in the 400 Meter.
Dickinson State is searching for its first team title after taking second in 2009. The Blue Hawks lost sprinter Ramon Miller, who was a three-time champion in the 400 Meters and part of the 1600-Meter Relay championship team. However, the other three members of the relay championship team are back this year. Junior Kurt McCormack is ranked No. 1 in the Triple Jump after he was second in 2009.
Also a strong team contender is Oklahoma Baptist. The Bison earned third-place distinction last year and was runner-up in both 2007 and 2008. Defending 800 Meter champion Andre Thomas returns for the Bison and will try to help Oklahoma Baptist to its first men’s team championship. Seven athletes are seeded No. 1 in their respective events.
Silas Kisorio of Oklahoma Christian is competing after winning the 2009 NAIA Men’s Cross Country Individual Championship. He is listed as the No. 1 seed in both the 800 Meters and 1-Mile run. Virgil Mitchell, a junior 60-Meter hurdler from Doane (Neb.), is back after setting a national record last year with a clocking of 7.93. He is also listed first in the 200 Meter going into the Championship.
Wayland Baptist (Texas) tops the list of women’s contenders. The defending national champions are attempting to become just the second team in history to win three straight titles, joining a McKendree (Ill.) program that won four championships from 1999-2002. The Pioneers already have an NAIA-record five team championships to their credit. 2009 Coach of the Year Brian Whitlock has a strong group returning, led by junior All-American Kimberly Smith. The sprinter is the reigning two-time champion in both the 60-Meter and 200-Meter dash. She holds the all-time record in the 60 Meter with a mark of 7.32, set as a freshman. Senior Kydia Echols is the No. 1 seed in the 600 Meter.
The road will not be easy for Wayland Baptist as Azusa Pacific (Calif.) eyes the trophy, a year after taking national runner-up honors. Last year’s event was the second straight time that Azusa was edged by one point to Wayland Baptist. The Cougars are looking for their first championship since 2004 and trying to build on last year’s results when they took 11 All-America honors. However, Azusa Pacific will have to replace individual champions Zora Golcevska (60-Meter Hurdles) and Jaime Canterbury (1-Mile Run). Senior Tiffeny Parker heads a talented Cougar squad as she is ranked No. 1 in the 60-Meter Hurdles.
The 2009 Most Valuable Performer, Natasha Miller of Biola (Calif.), returns as the No. 1 seed in the Pentathlon and is scheduled to compete in six different events. She set a NAIA-record last year with 3,943 points in the Pentathlon. Justyna Mudy of Shorter (Ga.) will be competing in the 5,000 Meters, where she is seeded first, and the 3,000 Meters. She won the 2009 NAIA Women’s Cross Country Individual Championship with a time of 17:30 in the 5K event.