GULF SHORES, Ala. – The UBC Thunderbirds men's and women's teams are both in first place heading into the final day of competition at the 2019 NAIA Outdoor Track & Field National Championships.
Following a tremendous day on the field Thursday, Friday saw the 'Birds earn critical points on the track including gold medals in the women's 4x800-meter relay and the men's 5,000-meter race walk, while many other athletes qualified for final events on Saturday, the biggest day of the meet.
"Not unlike the first day, we had some really strong results," said UBC head coach Laurier Primeau. "We got an incredible number of points from the walkers and they really did their job and we got a couple gold medals today which I think really builds momentum for tomorrow."
The T-Bird women's 4x800-relay team entered the national championship ranked sixth in the NAIA with a season best qualifying time of 9:17.94. Having qualified for the final on Thursday, the 'Birds had the opportunity to repeat as champions and that's exactly what they did with a blistering time of 8:51.37, more than six seconds ahead of the runners-up.
Sophomore Jamie Hennessey had UBC in the lead through the opening leg and the 'Birds never looked back. The team increased their lead with each leg thanks to terrific runs by Madelyn Huston and Mikayla Tinkham, setting up senior Nicola Symonds for the anchor which she finished in 2:06.87, nearly six seconds faster than anyone else on the track.
The relay was the second gold for the 'Birds Friday, following up junior Alger Liang's first place finish in the men's 5,000-meter race walk. Liang earned a silver at the 2018 national championship and entered this year as the No. 1-ranked race walker, proving his status as the top competitor in the NAIA with a gold medal time of 21:54.35 and 10 big points for the team total.
Joining Liang on the podium were fellow T-Birds Erik Thies, who finished fourth to earn five points with a time of 23:28.82 and Nathan Downey who came in sixth adding three more points, crossing the line in 24:12.06.
The women's 5,000-meter race walk was another big success for the 'Birds on Friday with freshman Joean Lu earning second place, eight team points, and All-American status in a time of 26:01.90, a new personal best. Fellow T-Bird freshman Audrey Fox crossed in sixth place picking up another three points while Kyra Danielson finished in ninth.
Freshman triple jumper Allison MacDonald faced a very tough field at her first national championship and set a new personal best of 11.56 meters.
With the bulk of final events still to come on Saturday, qualifying heats Friday provided some terrific results, putting UBC in excellent position in a number of distances.
Senior hurdler Kenneth Schultze qualified for Saturday's 110-meter hurdles final with a season best time of 14.36.
All three T-Bird women who ran Friday's preliminary 800-meter heats have qualified for Saturday's final. Junior Mikayla Tinkham, senior Nicola Symonds, and sophomore Madelyn Huston will all compete for more points on the final day of the meet.
Sophomore Rhys Kramer will also be gunning for a medal finish in the men's 800-meter final after finishing first in his qualifying heat Friday.
While the majority of UBC's track finals will be focused on middle-distance and long-distance events, Katherine Lucas will have plenty of eyes on her entry into the women's 100-meter final after qualifying with a time of 11.84 in a preliminary heat.
The final qualifying events for UBC on Friday came courtesy of the men's and women's 5,000 meters, which saw all four T-Birds qualify for Saturday's finals.
Junior Sarah MacArthur set the fastest preliminary time on the women's side with an 18:00.51 while Enid Au also easily advanced to the final.
The men's side saw a 1-2 UBC finish in the first of two qualifying heats as Tyler Dozzi led the way in 15:10.09, followed by Kieran Lumb just four-tenths of a second behind.
Through nine completed events of a total of 24 on the men's side, the T-Birds boast a total of 36 points, representing a 13-point lead. The women currently lead the pack with 31 points, eight ahead of the next closest school.
But with the vast majority of scoring finals yet to come, so many possible outcomes remain. However, the 'Birds have certainly put themselves in a position to achieve a great deal of success on the biggest day of the year.
"Some really nice things happened today but we also know there's going to be a big push tomorrow," added Primeau, who knows the standings as they look now can change dramatically. "It's just going to keep coming in waves tomorrow and we need to be ready to respond. If it all evens out and everyone places as well as they're ranked then I think we'll be formidable on both the men's and women's sides."