Event Hosted in Johnson City, Tenn., from March
4-6
KANSAS CITY, Mo.
- (Schedule
of events) (Live
scoring) 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.
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.
For complete information on the
Championships, click here.
Source: NAIA Sports Information
