BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (March 14, 2015) — The Adams State University men's indoor track and field team were crowned NCAA Division II National Champions on Saturday with a close five-point win over Grand Valley State University (Mich.). The Grizzly men tallied 45.00 points while GVSU tallied 40.00. The finish saw the Grizzlies move up five spots after their sixth place standing after day one on Friday.
It marks the second NCAA Division II Indoor T&F National Championship for the ASU men with the first coming in 2010. Overall, it is the fourth indoor national title (1990 & 1992).
A total of six ASU men collected All-American nods:
Matt Daniels: 5000m & Mile
DMR (
Oliver Aitchison,
Derek Brown II,
Austin Anaya, &
Kevin Batt)
Oliver Aitchison: Mile
Zach Baxter: Shot Put
Kevin Batt: 3000m
The day-two surge began with
Oliver Aitchison taking the crown in the mile with a time of 4:09.39. Teammate
Matt Daniels was close behind for a second-place finish with a time of 4:09.69.
Kevin Batt, who was recently named the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Association's (USTFCCA) South-Central Region athlete of the year, helped the Grizzlies out with a first-place finish in the 3000 meters with a time of 8:01.42.
After being ranked seventh in the nation in the shot put,
Zach Baxter placed fifth at the national meet with his best throw of 17.24m. This distance was 0.32 meters further than his throw at the RMAC Championships.
The strong efforts on Saturday carried over from the program's record breaking performance in Friday's distance medley relay. With a time of 9:41.79 the group of
Derek Brown II,
Kevin Batt,
Austin Anaya, and
Oliver Aitchison set a new NCAA DII meet record en route to placing first.
The Grizzly women entered day two of the national championships sitting in 19
th. However, with solid performances the program managed to move up eight spots for a three-way tie for eleventh at 19.00 points.
The Grizzlies earned their first points of the day from
Sunayna Wahi, who placed sixth in the women's 60 meter dash with a time of 7.51. With this finish, Wahi set a personal-best in the event.
Wahi would go on to take fourth in the women's 200 meter dash, where she would come within .004 of third place with a time of 24.138. Again, Wahi would set a personal-best in the event with her time.
Serena Canegan would go on to place eight in the women's pentathlon, with a solid performance of 3762 total points. Two weeks ago at the conference championships in Gunnison, Canegan placed second in the pentathlon, where she scored 3824 points.
Chante Roberts came in fourth in the women's 800 meter run with a time of 2:12.36. This time was three seconds faster than her second-place finish at the RMAC Championships.
In total, the ASU women had eight student-athletes earn All-American honors:
Mikaela Hoelsken: Weight Throw
DMR (
Tayler Warren,
Jessica Scherrer,
Leanne Allen, &
Jenna Thurman)
Sunayna Wahi: 60m & 200m
Chante Roberts: 800m
Serena Canegan: Pentathlon