Lincoln University men’s track team wins Division III National Championship
WAVERLY, Iowa (May 28, 2005) - After a four-year drought, the Lincoln University men’s track team captured its first NCAA Division III National Championship since 2000 with a stunning performance on the final day of the NCAA Division III Track and Field Championships at Walston-Hoover Stadium on the campus of Wartburg College Saturday afternoon.
After entering the final day without any points, Lincoln rallied past four-time defending champion Wisconsin-LaCrosse, 69-66.5 to win its seventh outdoor crown in school history. Lincoln, which entered the final event of the day (4 x 400) with a five-point lead, won outdoor titles in 1985, 1990, 1995, 1996, 1999 and 2000. It was the16th national championship, including indoor and outdoor titles, for men’s and women’s track coach Cyrus Jones. Rounding out the top five after Lincoln and Wisconsin-LaCrosse were Nebraska-Wesleyan (54 points), Williamette (43) and North Central College (31.5).
The Lions received first-place finishes from their Providence (R.I.) triumvirate of sophomore Bobby Young (400-meters), senior Augustine Schmader (100-meters) and freshman Yudehwheh Gbaa (triple-jump) along with second-place finishes from Young in the 200, Jeff Jasmin in the 400-meter hurdles and the 4 x 400-meter relay team to wrestle the crown from Wisconsin-LaCrosse and earn all-American honors.
Thanks to a pair of second-place finishes from sophomore Precious Macklin (Philadelphia, PA./Bartram) in the 100-meter dash (11.85) and 200-meter dash (24.27) the Lincoln women finished 17th overall with 16 points. Host Wartburg College edged Wisconsin-Oshkosh and Calvin College, 43-42 to claim the women’s crown.
“I told the kids before we left the hotel that today that in order for us to win, they had to run a flawless race in all eight events,” Lincoln coach Cyrus Jones said. “And for the first time in my 31 years at Lincoln, I haven’t seen anything as devastating and outstanding as I saw today with those kids across the board. In every event, they gave everything that they had. It’s just overwhelming to me at this point and so exciting. I am so proud of these kids.”
Young won the 400-meter dash title with a school-record 45.95-second performance, a Division III season best and Walston-Hoover Stadium record. In becoming the third Lion in school history to win the 400-meter dash and first since Clive Terrelonge won the event in 1991, Young erased Barry Fearon’s 20-year mark of 46.85.
Nate Olson (Wisconsin-LaCrosse) took second for the second consecutive year, turning in a time of 46.28, while Wartburg’s Josh Hauser, a junior, finished third with a time of 47.28.Young also placed second in the 200-meter dash (21.09) finishing behind Howard Payne’s Greg Nixon, who won the race in 20.96 seconds. Young and Schmader were also a part of the Lions’ silver-medal winning 4 x 400-meter relay team (3:09.86) along with Keko Goldman (Pleasantville, N.J./Pleasantville) and Lance Wigfall (East Orange, N.J./East Orange Campus).
“Standing on the podium (while receiving the championship trophy) was fun and different,” Young said. “It’s nice to receive a first-place trophy instead of a second-place trophy. It hasn’t sunk in that we won the national championship. We remained disciplined and stuck together as a family. Even though we knew we were ahead entering the 4 x 4, there was no pressure because we knew we could run that relay. We just had to finish first or second.”
In bettering the Waltson-Hoover Stadium record, Schmader won the men’s 100-meter dash in a time of 10.53 to become the fourth Lincoln runner in school history to win an individual outdoor national title in this event. John Biacofsky (Mt. Union) finished second at 10.63, while third place went to Nixon, who ran a 10.66. Schmader, who had been bothered with injuries during the outdoor season, shrugged off a delay at the beginning of the race caused by a false start and stayed focused until he crossed the finish line. Schamder joins Brandon Jones (1992, 1993, 1995), Dayne Ross (1999) and Chaz Clemons (2000-2003) as NCAA 100-meter dash champions. A Lincoln runner has won six of the last seven 100-meter dash national championships.
“Winning the 100 is amazing because I wasn’t one of the top guys coming in,” Schmader said. “I didn’t react well to the gun at the beginning of the race, but my drive enabled me to accelerate and pull away at the end of the race. Then I felt flat for a second but when I heard my competitors coming on I held my composure. I did what I came here to do.”
Gbaa picked the perfect time to turn in a personal-best performance by winning the triple jump with a leap of 49-6.25, a Division III season best and Walston-Hoover Stadium record. The freshman beat out returning 2004 All-America honoree Fred Jones (Tufts), who recorded a jump of 49-1.75. Bryson Taylor, a senior from Greenville, took third at 48-11. Dubuque’s DeAndre Bovan finished fourth at 48-10.25. Gbaa is the third Lion to win an individual national title in the triple-jump, joining Thomas Thompson (1997) and Justin Jarmon (2003).
“This feels awesome,” Gbaa said. “I was just coming into this event trying to place. I had the ninth-best qualifying jump, so I was **** to score my team some points in this National Championship by placing eighth. I’ve never hit 48 in my life, and today I hit 49. This feels so good. All my hard work and practice with my coaches paid off for me.”
Jasmin finished second in the 400-meter hurdles (52.26) behind Blake Bam of Monmouth (Ill.). In the 110-meter hurdles, Pierre Chapman (Linden, N.J./Linden) finished fourth (14.43) and John Fudge (Philadelphia, PA./Simon Gratz) placed eighth (15.00). Chapman and Fudge also earned All-American honors for the Lions. The Lions’ 4 x 100-meter relay team earned a fourth place finish (40.88) by running its fastest time of the outdoor season.
As the day unfolded Lincoln started to gain confidence that it could still win a title. Wisconsin-Lacrosse, which has won 21 track national titles, entered the final day with 24 points.
“After Bobby won the 400 and I won the 100, we started to believe that anything was possible,” Schmader said. “Then we heard that Yudehwheh won the triple jump and we saw that Wisconsin-LaCrosse didn’t do well in the 5,000, we were like we have a chance to win this. We were so focused coming into today and we were concerned with scoring as many points as possible.”
For Lincoln, the national championship is the perfect cherry on top of a phenomenal outdoor season. The Lions men’s track team qualified for two Championship of America races at the Penn Relays. The 4 x 400-meter relay team established the school record on two different occasions.
“We didn’t concern ourselves with what we didn’t do during the first two days of the meet,” Schmader said. “We believed we had a chance if everybody performed to their ability. I’ve been waiting for this moment since August. It’s great to be a part of the tradition and winning a championship brings you deeper into that tradition. As a senior, I wanted to go out with a **** and this is a perfect ending.”
yeah Albany went to nationals but our boys got 5th overall.
Gregory Bolden who won the 100-meter dash at 10.38 seconds.
Gregory Bolden, Rodney Coley, Sterling Gray and Dontreal Williams, the 4x100 team won at 39.68. Williams was seventh in the 100 at 10.64.
Brandon Rouhlac who won the triple jump at 52-1 feet.
Levern Spencer who won the womens high jump at 6-1, and placed eighth in the 200 (24.69).
Jana Mrozkova who was ninth in the womens triple jump (39- ) and
Candice Camp who was 11th in the triple jump (38-7).
