Host Lakers secure first men’s championship, with women placing second, as Cougars capture first Division 2 crown after five victories at NAIA and NCCAA levels; West Texas A&M’s Azamati and Swoopes, Seton Hill’s Hartman, Missouri Southern State’s Campbell and Mary’s Narbuvoll all win multiple individual titles

By Erik Boal, DyeStat Editor

ALLENDALE, Mich. – It had been two decades since any program had swept both men’s and women’s titles at the NCAA Division 2 Championships, and host Grand Valley State appeared primed to celebrate the memorable double Saturday night on their home track.

That was, until the division’s rising power decided to bring a historic women’s team championship back to Southern California.

INTERVIEWS

Grand Valley State relied on the strength of its distance runners, including 5,000-meter winner Isaac Harding, to neutralize the speed of West Texas A&M and sprint champion Benjamin Azamati, earning the first men’s team title in program history with 76 points. Harding had placed second in his past three national finals, including the 10,000 championship Thursday, before producing a breakthrough by clocking 14:13.78 to pull away from Adams State’s Carson Bix (14:14.35) down the stretch.

West Texas A&M was second with 55 points, Angelo State took third with 43 points and Ashland – behind a courageous 4x400 relay anchor leg of Trevor Bassitt – tied with Pittsburg State for fourth place with 37 points.

No matter how many times the host Lakers continued to apply pressure on Azusa Pacific as the evening schedule unfolded, with the strong efforts of Nicole Sreenan and their relays, the Cougars continued to produce timely responses thanks to the championship performances of Chineyne Agina, Mechaela Hyacinth and Jaylah Walker.

Azusa Pacific finally clinched its first Division 2 title following the second All-American distance performance of Jennifer Sandoval, with the fourth-place 4x400 relay of Grand Valley State – including a 52.92 anchor from Sreenan – not enough to rally the Lakers, as the Cougars captured the championship by an 81-77 margin.

Azusa Pacific had won NAIA women’s titles in 2003, 2004, 2007 and 2010, along with a National Christian Colleges Athletic Association crown in 2013, but had never made the podium in four previous appearances at the Division 2 national meet.

West Texas A&M, led by 23 points from three-time All-American thrower Zada Swoopes and Taylor Nelloms’ triple jump title, was third overall with 49 points, just ahead of the distance athletes of Adams State, who accounted for all 46 of the team’s points, including championship efforts from Stephanie Cotter and Eilish Flanagan.

Saginaw Valley State, fueled by heptathlon champion and winning 4x400 relay anchor Cheyenne Williamson, finished fifth with 39 points.

Williamson, who won indoor titles in the pentathlon, 60-meter hurdles and long jump, prevailed in the heptathlon Thursday and Friday with 5,595 points. Following an eighth-place finish in the 4x100 relay, the Cardinals relied on a strong opening leg from 2019 heptathlon champion Lauren Huebner and maintained the advantage throughout, with Williamson – competing for the 12th time at the meet – anchoring in 53.26 to secure victory in 3:39.46.

After not qualifying for the 4x400 relay final, Azusa Pacific could only watch as the last event unfolded, needing only one team to finish ahead of Grand Valley State to capture the title.

Sreenan, who already won the 400 in 53.48 and ran the second leg on the victorious 4x100 relay that edged Minnesota State by a 44.86 to 44.87 margin, produced the fastest split of the race, but even her heroics could only elevate the Lakers to a 3:44.26 effort, matching their fourth-place relay finish at the indoor final in March.

Sandoval capped the scoring for the Cougars with her fourth-place performance (16:11.31) in the 5,000 final, following a runner-up finish Thursday in the 10,000.

Ida Narbuvoll, a graduate student-athlete at University of Mary, ran away from Sandoval and Adams State sisters Eilish Flanagan and Roisin Flanagan from the opening lap, punctuating her distance double with a 69.92-second final 400 to clock 15:37.50 and smash the championship meet record of 15:59.34 held by Julie Bowers of West Chester that had stood since 1985.

Narbuvoll, a Norwegian athlete, elevated to the No. 2 competitor in division history, following Alaska-Anchorage standout Caroline Kurgat in 2018-19 by achieving the 5,000 and 10,000 double.

Eilish Flanagan, the 3,000 steeplechase winner Friday, took second in 15:50.59 and Roisin Flanagan clocked 15:52.80, helping Adams State secure fourth place overall.

Cotter, along with the Flanagan sisters representing Ireland, remained unbeaten in her past six Division 2 championship races, capturing her second career 1,500 title in a lifetime-best 4:14.96, with German athlete Celine Ritter from Lee (Tennessee) placing second in 4:17.22.

After placing second to Melanie Welsing of Queens (North Carolina) in the 100-meter hurdles final by a 13.43 to 13.47 margin, Walker captured the first 400 hurdles title for Azusa Pacific since 2007, elevating to the No. 9 competitor in division history by clocking 57.29.

Hyacinth became the first 100-meter champion in program history for the Cougars, clocking 11.67, in addition to producing a fourth-place finish in the 200 in 23.55.

Agina cleared a personal-best 6-0.75 (1.85m) on her third attempt to secure the first women’s high jump title for Azusa Pacific since 1991.

Swoopes capped one of the most impressive throwing showcases ever witnessed at the championship meet by punctuating her second career outdoor shot put crown with a meet-record 57-8.50 (17.59m) on the final attempt of the competition.

Swoopes also won the discus with a throw of 175-6 (53.49m) and secured sixth in the hammer with a personal-best effort of 186-5 (56.83m).

She wasn’t the only winner of multiple events for West Texas A&M, who had Ghanaian record holder Azamati run a wind-legal 10.02 in the 100 and a wind-aided 20.23 in the 200 to become the first male sprinter to sweep both titles since Academy of Art’s Mobolade Ajomale in 2018.

Azamati was denied a third title, as Texas A&M-Commerce held off the Buffaloes by a 39.69 to 39.82 margin, but Butare Rugenerwa picked up another significant victory for West Texas A&M in the 800. Following a third-place finish in the indoor final, Rugenerwa relied on a late surge to edge Grand Valley State’s Dennis Mbuta by a 1:49.46 to 1:49.47 margin. 

Bailey Sharon captured the first women’s 800 championship in Western Colorado history, rallying for victory in a lifetime-best 2:04.23.

Channing Phillips secured the fourth straight men’s 400 victory for Ashland in 46.61, following titles from Myles Pringle in 2017-19. But the most inspirational moment for the Eagles came with the return of Bassitt, who missed competition Thursday and Friday with inflammation in his left foot that took him out of contention for individual titles.

Bassitt received medical clearance to compete in both relays Saturday, helping Ashland finish fourth in the 4x100 (40.43), before anchoring the 4x400 relay in 45.42 to secure victory over Limestone by a 3:09.38 to 3:09.51 margin.

Sam Hartman of Seton Hill not only won the first two men’s titles in program history, but became only the third competitor all-time in the division to win both the 110 hurdles and 400 hurdles in the same year.

Hartman held off Tyrin Lewis of West Texas A&M by a wind-aided 13.88 to 13.89 margin in the 110 hurdles, before running a personal-best 50.50 in the 400 hurdles to join Sam Turner of Cal State Los Angeles in 1980 and Sabiel Anderson of Lincoln (Missouri) in 2013 in achieving the feat.

Rajindra Campbell of Missouri Southern State, representing Jamaica, completed the first sweep of shot put and discus titles since 2005, following victory in the latter Friday with a third-round effort of 65-7 (19.99m) to capture his second championship.

Academy of Art’s James Young became the first athlete to capture both outdoor 1,500 and indoor mile crowns in the same year since 2016, surviving a strong close from Benjamin Allen of Concordia-St. Paul to prevail by a 3:52.95 to 3:52.96 margin.

Hiba Mahgoub earned the first outdoor national title for the Northwest Missouri State women, rebounding from a third-place finish in the 400 final (54.02) to clock 23.25 in the 200 championship.

Devoux Deysel won the third men’s javelin title in the past four finals for Angelo State, producing the No. 8 throw in division history with a sixth-round effort of 247-10 (75.54m). Deysel, representing South Africa, remained the No. 6 all-time competitor, and continued to close in on the program record of No. 4 athlete Nils Fischer, who threw 250-11 (76.48m) in 2018.

Slippery Rock senior Danielle Collier, a graduate student-athlete who previously competed at Miami (Ohio), won the program’s first javelin title. Collier achieved the second-best throw of her career in the third round with a 174-6 (53.18m) effort to win the title by more than 17 feet and elevate to the No. 8 competitor in division history.

Ryan Stanley of Fort Hays State survived sudden-death competition to secure the first men’s pole vault title for Fort Hays State, knocking off Trivett Jones of Angelo State with a 17-1.50 (5.22m) clearance in the jumpoff. Both athletes cleared 17-2.75 (5.25m) on their third attempts to extend the competition.

Shemar Miller, a Jamaican athlete, captured the first title for Benedict College, winning the men’s triple jump with a second-round effort of a personal-best 51-9.75 (15.79m).