MARION, Ind.—After three individual titles over the past two days, Concordia University added four more winners as both the men’s and women’s teams placed in the top four at the NAIA National Championships held at Indiana Wesleyan University.  

 

The defending national champions, the Concordia women were outpointed by Oklahoma Baptist 101 1/2 to 81 points. In fourth place, the Cavalier men recorded their fifth straight top-5 finish after tallying 51 points. Shorter (Ga.) won the men’s team title with 93 points while Azusa Pacific (Calif.) took second at 69 and Wayland Baptist (Texas) third with 67.

 

Along with sven national champions, the Cavaliers totaled 23 All-American performances.

 

In all, five of the team’s seven titles occurred in the throwing events as Gabriella Dixson won the women’s discus and Eric Whalen the men’s shot after watching their counterparts win the same events the day before.

 

A day after placing second to her teammate Kayla Xavier in the shot put, Dixson earned her own title by upping Xavier 173-0 (52.74m) to 155-6 (47.41m) in the discus. With the 1-2 finishes in the shot and the discus, the duo single-handedly scored 36 points in the two events.

 

Backing up his No. 1-ranking in the men’s shot put, Eric Whalen eclipsed the 60-foot mark for the first time in his career en route to his first national title. Whalen uncorked a 60-7 1/4 (18.47m) on his fourth attempt to win the discipline by more than two feet over Southern Oregon’s Max Perry (58-1 3/4). All five of Whalen’s recorded throws would have won the competition.

 

The national champion in the discus from Friday, Moses came back to score two team points with a 55-3 1/2 (16.85m) in the shot for his second All-American honor of the weekend. Anthony Lantz fell just shy of the awards stand in ninth place with a 54-3 3/4 (16.55m).

 

In a pair of running events where the Cavaliers were favored to come out on top, Junia Limage and Lauren Moran capped off the CU haul with wire-to-wire wins in the 800 and the steeplechase. Moran earned her third straight All-American accolade in the steeplechase with a time of 11:11.63 to outlast College of Idaho’s Sora Klopfenstein (11:16.32).

 

Limage defended her indoor title in the 800 with a school record time of 2:07.10. Defeating her previous best of 2:08.29, Limage won the race with nearly two seconds to spare as Oklahoma Baptist freshman Hannah Helker came in second with a 2:08.84.

 

Running out of lane No. 9 for the 400-meter hurdles, Jordan Reeher held on for eighth place with a personal best 52.57. Earning All-American status as a true freshman, Reeher nearly toppled the school record of 52.40 in the process.

 

Capping off his Concordia career, Branko Djuricic landed a season-best in the triple jump to earn his second straight All-American honor. Djuricic registered a 49-6 1/4 (15.09m) on his last attempt of the day to finish in fifth place after taking third a year ago.

 

NyEma Sims concluded a busy day with her second top-five finish. After cruising to a third-place result in the 100 on Friday, Sims returned to take fifth in the 200. Sims posted the third fastest time in the semis with a 24.41 before coming back with a 24.51 in the finals.

 

In the final event of the day, the men’s 1,600-meter relay team consisting of Reeher, Edgar Vazquez, Brown and Andre Washington toured the track in 3:12.97 for eighth place to give the quartet the school’s final All-American honor and another school record.

 

In other action on the track, a pair of freshman turned in top 15 performances. Natalie Ball finished in 11th place in the 1,500 with a 4:43.94 while Sarah Whybark crossed the 5,000 in 9:16.73 for 14th place while battling hot conditions.

NAIA Outdoor Track & Field National Championships
Indiana Wesleyan University
Marion, Ind.
May 24-26

Concordia Women's Results
100 (finals): 3. NyEma Sims, 11.77. 100 (semis): 4. NyEma Sims, 11.93. 100 (prelims): 1. NyEma Sims, 11.91. 200 (finals): 5. NyEma Sims, 24.51. 200 (semis): 3. NyEma Sims, 24.21. 200 (prelims): 4. NyEma Sims, 24.89. 800 (finals): 1. Junia Limage, 2:07.10. 1,500 (finals): 11. Natalie Ball, 4:33.94. 5,000 (finals): 13. Sarah Whybark, 19:16.73. 5,000 (prelims): 14. Sarah Whybark, 18:37.85. 10,000: 8. Emily Painter, 37:35.87. Steeplechase: 1. Lauren Moran, 11:11.63. Shot: 1. Kayla Xavier, 50-10 (15.49m); 2. Gabriella Dixson, 50-7 1/4 (15.42m). Discus: 1. Gabriella Dixson, 173-0 (52.74m); 2. Kayla Xavier, 155-6 (47.41m); 17. Breezy Wentz, 133-5 (40.67m). Hammer: 1. Sharayah Kenady, 188-9 (57.54m); 17. Gabriella Dixson, 148-3 (45.20m). Javelin: 5. Aria Nojima, 145-0 (44.21m). 400 Relay: Concordia, DNF (Kristin Monda, NyEma Sims, Jennifer Roberts, Marshey Brown).

Concordia Men's Results
800 (finals): 4. Jasen Brown, 1:50.57. 800 (semis): 2. Jasen Brown, 1:51.88; 17. Cory Pena, 1:55.73. 800 (prelims): 8. Cory Pena, 1:54.52; 9. Jasen Brown, 1:54.74. 5,000 (prelims): 18. Andrew Landstrom, 15:31.34; 22. Ben Foubert, 15:59.04. 400 Hurdles (finals): 8. Jordan Reeher, 52.57. 400 Hurdles (semis): 8. Jordan Reeher, 52.80. 400 Hurdles (prelims): 4. Jordan Reeher, 53.85; 28. James Ratliff, 1:08.99. Long Jump: 16. Ethan Moore, 22-5 1/4 (6.84m). Triple Jump: 5. Branko Djucicic, 49-6 1/4 (15.09m). High Jump: Ethan Moore, NH. Shot: 1. Eric Whalen, 60-7 1/4 (18.47m); 7. Nate Moses, 55-3 1/2 (16.85m); 9. Anthony Lantz, 54-3 3/4 (16.55m); 19. Ismael Osorio, 49-10 (15.19m). Discus: 1. Nate Moses, 197-5 (60.17m); 7. Ismael Osorio, 163-5 (49.81m); 15. Bo Johnson, 155-9 (47.48m); 18. Eric Whalen, 151-5 (46.16m). Hammer: 6. Bo Johnson, 189-11 (57.88m); 10. Matthew Webster, 181-0 (55.18m); 14. Anthony Lantz, 175-0 (53.35m); 16. Adam Riddle, 173-9 (52.97m); 22. Nate Moses, 160-1 (48.80m). Javelin: 3. Jesse Staub, 209-7 (63.89m); 4. Eric Whalen, 209-0 (63.70m); 7. Tim Wyland, 204-5 (62.30m). 1,600 Relay (finals): 8. Concordia, 3:12.97 (Jordan Reeher, Edgar Vazquez, Jasen Brown, Andre Washington). 1,600 Relay (prelims): 9. Concordia, 3:13.28 (Jordan Reeher, Edgar Vazquez, Jasen Brown, Andre Washington).

School Records
Jasen Brown, 800, 1:50.57 (old mark of 1:51.02 set by Cory Pena in 2011)
 

Junia Limage, 800, Junia Limage, 2:07.10 (old mark of 2:08.29 by Limage in 2012)
Nate Moses, discus, 197-5 (old record of 192-7 by Moses in 2012)
NyEma Sims, 100, 11.77 (old record of 11.91 by Sims in 2012)
Eric Whalen, shot, 60-7 1/4 (old mark of 59-11 by Whalen in 2012)
1,600 Relay, 3:12.97 (old mark of 3:13.28 set in 2012)

National Champions
1st, Gabriella Dixson, discus
1st, Sharayah Kenady, hammer
1st, Junia Limage, 800
1st, Lauren Moran, steeplechase
1st, Nate Moses, discus
1st, Eric Whalen, shot
1st, Kayla Xavier, shot

Other All-Americans
2nd, Gabrialla Dixson, shot
2nd, Kayla Xavier, discus
3rd, NyEma Sims, 100
3rd, Jesse Staub, javelin
4th, Jasen Brown, 800
4th, Eric Whalen, javelin
5th, Branko Djuricic, triple jump
5th, Aria Nojima, javelin
5th, NyEma Sims, 200
6th, Bo Johnson, hammer
7th, Nate Moses, shot
7th, Ismael Osorio, discus
7th, Tim Wyland, javelin
8th, Emily Painter, 10,000
8th, Jordan Reeher, 400 hurdles
8th, 1,600 Relay (Jordan Reeher, Edgar Vazquez, Jasen Brown, Andre Washington)