Alice Lloyd College Indoor Track & Field Qualifiers Compete in NCCAA Nationals
Cedarville, OH: The Alice Lloyd College Women & Men's Indoor Track and Field qualifiers competed over the weekend at the NCCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships, held in Cedarville, Ohio.
In order to advance to nationals, a qualifying time or distance must be reached in an event held during the school year. Offering the sport of indoor track for the first time, the Pippa Passes crew had five different athletes earn the right to participate in the prestigious event, and it was a great learning experience for all involved.
In order to clinch a spot as an NCCAA All-American in any event, the athlete had to finish on the podium, meaning a difficult top-three placement was required. The Caney Creek squad had one individual who just missed this requirement, earning two very impressive 4th Place finishes.
For the women, 21 colleges and universities participated, and the Lady Eagles had one individual achieve the required standard.
Despite an injury that sidelined her for several months, Sara Cecil still advanced in the 60 m hurdles. Cecil crossed the line in a commendable time of 10:17 seconds, good enough for 12th Place.
For the men, 21 colleges and universities participated, and four individual Eagles would achieve the required standard.
Dakota Owens gave a gritty effort while suffering some heartbreak along the way. In the 400m dash, out of 30 qualifiers, Owens crossed the line in 50.66 seconds and a 4th Place finish (missing 3rd Place by only .15). However, the real heartache came in the 200m dash. Owens time of 22: 74 initially tied for 3rd, but the tie had to be broken. After an agonizing wait and review of the footage, the officials determined that his precise time was 22.739. Unfortunately, this still left him just three one-hundredths of a second (0.003) behind his competitor's time of 22.736, thus earning him 4th Place overall. Despite the initial disappointment, he earned 5 Points for his team in each race, and handled himself in commendable fashion.
Kenny Wilburn also qualified in the 400m dash, giving a spirited effort as well. He crossed in 53:66 seconds to finish in 21st Place.
Nikolas Chasteen competed in the 60m dash and finished in a quick time of 7:23 seconds, good enough for 17th place and not far off the top eight and the finals.
In the high jump, Gerald Bentley finished in 11th Place as he cleared the bar at 1.80m. This was a good showing for the young leaper.
The ALC club finished the first-ever indoor season on a high note, and rookie Head Coach Noah Young looks to build off of this positive experience to prepare for the outdoor track and field season, which will begin in March.
Photo credits to Logan Howard and Scott Huck.