GULF SHORES, Ala. – Incredible performances by UBC's throwers led the way for a strong opening day for the Thunderbirds at the 2019 NAIA Outdoor Track & Field National Championships at Mickey Miller Blackwell Stadium on Thursday.
Along with a gold medal men's hammer throw and silver medal in men's javelin came other solid final results and strong qualifying times as the 'Birds opened the meet with a bang.
One of the most impressive results across the entire championship Thursday came via freshman T-Bird hammer thrower Rowan Hamilton. The Chilliwack, B.C., native bettered his previous personal best by nearly two meters with a 63.50 to earn NAIA national champion status.
Hamilton entered the competition ranked fifth and ended up throwing more than a meter further than the No. 1-ranked athlete who finished Thursday as the runner-up.
UBC's incredible throwing performances continued with junior javelin thrower Roan Allen who finished second while earning All-America status for the second consecutive year. Allen was dialed in, setting a new personal best of 68.88 meters with his second attempt, only to blow that out of the water with a 70.74 on his third. In the end, first place was decided by a mere 25 centimetres. Allen's eight team points helped the UBC men to a day-one total of 18, good for the overall lead through three final events.
The T-Birds earned a combined six points in women's javelin with a pair of solid results from freshmen Jv Patry-Smith and Giovanna Janes. Patry-Smith took fifth place reaching 43.65 meters while Janes set a new personal record of 42.98 meters to earn seventh at her first national championship.
"Garrett (Collier) was completely dialled in as our hammer coach," said UBC head coach Laurier Primeau following the tremendous day on the field. "To have personal bests at the most important meet thus far in the season is exactly what you train for."
On the track, the 'Birds had just the one final event which saw senior Enid Au complete the women's 10,000 meters with an inspiring fifth-place time of 37:24.80, earning four points for the team.
"Kudos to Enid for putting in that effort and running 79 second laps two out of the last three and I expect she'll be back on the line tomorrow for the 5,000-meter heat," added Primeau.
The bulk of final events are scheduled for Friday and Saturday but the 'Birds used Thursday's preliminary heats to put themselves in excellent position for the rest of the week.
All four T-Bird men have qualified for Saturday's 1,500-meter final, led by senior Max Trummer who set the best preliminary time with a 3:58.65. Sophomore Rhys Kramer also earned automatic entry to the final with a 3:58.82. Top-ranked Kieran Lumb earned an automatic berth thanks to a 3:59.11 in the second heat. Sophomore Tanner Geary's 3:59.42 also has him into Saturday's final as UBC makes up a full third of the final field.
The only T-Birds relay team in Alabama will compete in the final on Friday, that being the women's 4x800-meter after they easily won their heat with a time of 9:16.78, nearly five seconds ahead of Wayland Baptist (Texas). Gabrielle Joffe's first-leg time of 2:16.57 stood up as the fastest opening 800 in any of the heats, helping set the pace for the rest of her team which included Madelyn Huston, Mikayla Tinkham, and Nicola Symonds.
The last qualifying event of the day for the 'Birds was the women's 3,000-meter steeplechase which saw both Madelyn Brunt and Jamie Hennessey secure their spots in Saturday's final.
Earlier in the day, both Nicola Symonds and Kieran Lumb were officially recognized for their U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association NAIA West Region Track Athlete of the Year awards.
All in all, the first of the three-day national championships was a solid success for the 'Birds.
"We're A-1, we're on track," Primeau offered. "There's lots of track and field to go and anything can happen and there are other good teams out there, but I like where we are now."
The gutsy, inspirational performances early on will no doubt serve the entire team well going into the final two days of the meet as both the men and women push for a national championship banner.