The NCAA Division II Outdoor Championships: A Fan’s Guide

ALLENDALE, Michigan – A full academic year worth of training and competing has come down to one weekend: the NCAA Division II Outdoor Track & Field Championships.

DII’s best of the best will square off against one another this May 21 through May 23 on the campus of Grand Valley State, with national titles on the line. For all the information you’ll need to follow the meet this weekend, check out the USTFCCCA National Championships Central page.

We broke down the men’s and women’s team races in depth earlier this week; you can find the men’s preview here and the women’s preview here.

Below, we’ve broken down the four main event groups (sprints/hurdles/relays, distance, jumps, throws) by spotlighting a men’s and women’s “event to watch”, plus a few additional storylines to follow. Click the link below to go to a specific event group.

Sprints/Hurdles/Relays | Distance | Jumps | Throws

SPRINTS/HURDLES/RELAYS

Men’s Event to Watch: 100 Meters/200 Meters

100 Final: Saturday, 3:35pm ET
200 Final: Saturday, 4:50pm ET

Okay, so we broke our “one event to watch” rule right off the bat, but hear me out, there’s a reason. Short sprints at NCAA DII Championship meets the past two seasons have been dominated by dual winners, with Lamar Hargrove of Tiffin winning at 60 and 200 meters indoors the past two seasons, and Tim Price of Texas A&M-Kingsville sweeping both of these events a year ago.

Price isn’t in the field this weekend, but Hargrove is for the first time in his career after missing the meet in 2014. The sophomore Dragon is the top seed at 200 meters (20.56) and is No. 5 at 100 meters (10.33). Can he add another title or even another sweep to his resume?

Or could that sweep go to/be broken up by Minnesota State’s Emmanuel Matadi (No. 1 100, No. 4 200) or Jeffrey Fraley of Missouri Southern (No. 2 100 and 200)?

Women’s Event to Watch: 400 Meters

Final: Saturday, 3:05pm ET

The plotlines run thick in this one. Quanera Hayes of Livingstone is the two-time defending national champion in this event, and is peaking at the right time after running 52.04 for the No. 2 seed in mid-April. She has a propensity to show up at just the right time, as her two fastest times have comeat the past two NCAA Outdoor Championships.

Still, she will have major competition in the form of sophomore Carly Muscaro of Merrimack and Ayana Walker of Shorter. Muscaro has competed in three NCAA meets at Merrimack; she’s finished runner-up in two of them. She ran 51.83 earlier this season for the top seed.

One of those runner-up finishes came to Hayes in Allendale a year ago; the other came this winter at NCAA indoors to Walker. The Shorter junior is No. 4 this outdoor season at 52.47.

Completing a quartet that has established themselves as the women to beat is No. 3 Tovea Jackson of Johnson C. Smith at 52.42.

More Storylines:

• Jordan Edwards of Academy of Art is the defending outdoor champion/reigning indoor champion at 400 meters. Coming in at No. 4 in 46.56, will his reign be ended by top seed Omar Johnson of Saint Augustine’s (45.78)? The Falcon was runner-up to Edwards indoors.
• Relays will play a significant role in the national team title races, particularly for the women. In the women’s 4×100, national team No. 4 Saint Augustine’s, defending national champ No. 3 Lincoln (Mo.) and No. 2 New Mexico Highlands are all seeded within half a second of one another at Nos. 1, 2 and 3, respectively. Those same programs all have top-six teams in the 4×400 relay. The men’s team race could come down to the 4×4 with No. 2 Saint Augustine’s seeded third and No. 1 Texas A&M-Commerce seeded fourth.
• Hurdles races will play a huge role in the men’s and women’s team races. For those breakdowns, check out our men’s and women’s team previews from earlier this week.

DISTANCE

Men’s Event to Watch: 5000 Meters

Saturday, 5:25pm ET

Adams State’s duo of Kevin Batt and Tabor Stevens crossing the line 1-2 in this race a year ago turned out to be one of the more iconic images of last year’s meet. Batt won’t be back after turning pro earlier this spring, but could the 1-2 Adams State finish still happen?

Stevens is back for his final collegiate race after going for his third steeplechase title in a row the previous day, and the two-time steeplechase champ/two-time cross country champ/indoor mile champ should more than outperform his No. 12 seed. Teammate Matt Daniels is the top seed at 13:51.

Looking to break up the Grizzly sweep are No. 2 Marty Andrie of RMAC rival Colorado Mines, the Southern Indiana duo of No. 3 Tyler Pence and defending 10,000 meter champ No. 4 Johnnie Guy, No 5 Dominik Notz of Alaska Anchorage and perennial contender No. 6 Mike Biwott of American International. Both Andrie and Pence have gone sub-14:00 this season.

Women’s Event to Watch: 5000 Meters

Saturday, 5pm ET

Lucky you, you get to watch both featured events back-to-back. There hasn’t been a Division II distance runner better this year than Emily Oren of Hillsdale. She’s the fastest woman in the country at three different distances (1500, 3000 steeplechase, and 5000), but of the two she’s contesting at NCAAs this weekend (steeplechase and 5000) she faces the biggest challenge here.

Oren is seeded No. 1 at 16:17.40, just slightly ahead of GLIAC rival No. 2 Amy Cymerman of host Grand Valley (who, coincidentally, transferred from DIII Saint Lawrence, which is hosting their national championship meet this weekend) at 16:20.59.

Four other women are seeded within 10 seconds of Oren: Staci Foster of Azusa Pacific (16:21.89), Jennifer Johnson of Simon Fraser (16:26.59), Jenna Thurman of Adams State (16:26.86) and Amanda Farrough of Lewis (16:27.01).

Foster’s and Cymerman’s performances will have particularly significant impacts on the national team title/podium races, but an even bigger X-factor might be cross country champion Kendra Foley of GVSU. The sophomore was fifth in the indoor final at this distance, but her most recent effort was a DNF at the GLIAC Championships. Big points from No. 13 Foley (16:46.78) would be a significant boost for GVSU’s team hopes.

More Storylines

• Can anyone topple the heavy favorites? Namely: five-time indoor/outdoor men’s 800 champ Drew Windle of Ashland; two-time defending men’s steeplechase champion/DII record holder Tabor Stevens of Adams State; defending men’s 10,000 champ Johnnie Guy of Southern Indiana; and No. 3 all-time DII women’s steepler Emily Oren of Hillsdale?

  Oren has the toughest test. Though she’s the No. 3 steepler in DII history at 10:04.79, Katelyn Steen of Western Washington has run 10:13.01 and 10:14.16 in her past two races, the latter coming in a 17-second rout. She’s the fifth-fastest DII woman of all-time.

• Defending men’s 1500 meter champ Chase Rathke of Tarleton State is back to defend his title, but he’ll have his hands full with top seed Oliver Aitchison of Adams State. The Grizzly is four seconds clear of the field at 3:40.21, with Rathke seeded No. 6 at 3:46.08.
• Could the women’s 1500 title reside out west for two years in a row? Foster of Azusa Pacific is the top seed at 4:21.07, but will face a stiff challenge from Harding’s No. 2 Ewa Zaborowska at 4:22.30.
• Both women’s mid-distance titles could stay out west, as Lindsey Butterworth of Simon Fraser is the top seed at 800 meters by nearly three seconds at 2:04.11.

JUMPS

Men’s Event to Watch: Pole Vault

Saturday, 12:30pm ET

Only one individual event at these Championships features a head-to-head battle between two former champions, and it is the men’s pole vault. Defending outdoor champion Jeff Piepenbrink of Pittsburg State will tangle once again with 2013 outdoor champ Jordan Yamoah of Texas A&M-Kingsville, who also has a 2014 outdoor third-place finish and two indoor national titles to his name.

Piepenbrink was the most efficient of four men who cleared 17-4½ (5.30m) a year ago, though only he and Yamoah return this year.

While we’re billing this as a showdown between two former champions, it may very well happen that neither walks away with the title this year. Indoor champ Jagger Gran of Sioux Falls isn’t in the field, but Cole Phillips of Central Missouri has established himself as the man to beat this year at 5.37m, just ahead of Yamoah at 5.36m and Western State’s Noah Zorsky at 5.35m. Zorsky, Phillips and Yamoah were fourth, fifth and seventh at 16-6¾ (5.05m) during the indoor season, while Piepenbrink was 10th.

Women’s Event to Watch: Long Jump

Thursday, 2:30pm ET

New Mexico Highlands has to feel good about this event. The Cowgirls will be represented by both the defending indoor national champ in No. 2 Shanice McPherson and the defending outdoor champ in No. 11 Salcia Slack. McPherson has gone 20-11¼ (6.38m) this outdoor season, while Slack has gone 19-10¾ (6.06m) – though her career-best of 20-9 (6.32m) came in winning this meet a year ago.

Still, neither is the No. 1 seed in the event. That belongs to the only 21-foot jumper so far in Tarleton State’s Euphemia Edem at 21-1½ (6.44m). She finished runner-up to Slack last season by just two centimeters (while competing at Stillman), and will likely have that in mind as she jumps this year.

Those three are among the five women from last year’s top six who are back in 2015. Pittsburg State’s Antquinta Reed was third a year ago and is seeded No. 4 at 20-3 (6.17m), tied with Central Missouri’s Erika Kinsey. She was fourth indoors.

Also back is last year’s fifth-place finisher, No. 3 Shakinah Brooks of Saint Augustine’s, who has leapt 20-5¼ (6.23m) this year. Rounding out the top six – all of whom recorded auto-qualifying marks this year – is GVSU’s Sarah Talbott at 20-1 (6.12m).

One look at the teams involved in this event adds another level of intrigue: No. 1 Central Missouri, No. 2 New Mexico Highlands, No. 4 Saint Augustine’s, No. 5 Grand Valley State and No. 6 Pittsburg State all have stakes in this one.

More Storylines

• If the team drama in the women’s long jump wasn’t enough, you can get more in the women’s triple jump. Edem is again the top seed, but she’s tied for that honor with Slack of NMHU at 43-4½ (13.22m), just ahead of No. 3 Kinsey of Central Missouri at 43-¼ (13.11m) and defending national champion Reed of Pittsburg State at 42-7 (12.98m).
• How high will the bar go in the men’s and women’s high jump? The answer is quite possibly DII-record and 2015 collegiate-leading heights. Top men’s seed Jeron Robinson of Texas A&M-Kingsville is coming off a DII-record and collegiate-leading 7-7 (2.31m) clearance at the Lone Star Championships and owns four of the five highest clearances in DII history. For the women, Central Missouri’s Kinsey is the No. 2 jumper in DII history with her 6-3½ (1.92m) at the MIAA Championships. She needs four more centimeters to get to sole possession of the DII record and a share of the 2015 collegiate lead with Jeannelle Scheper of DI South Carolina.
• Expect another close competition in the men’s triple jump, after seventh-seeded Joseph Postwaite of Lake Erie upset No. 2 seed DeVontae Steele of Texas A&M-Commerce by just five centimeters during the indoor championships. Steele again enters as the better seed at No. 1 with a leap of 51-¾ (15.56m), but Postwaite won’t be sneaking up on anyone this time. He’s No. 2 at 50-10¼ (15.50m) – for a difference of just six centimeters.
• Speaking of Salcia Slack, she’ll be doing the two aforementioned jumps events in addition to the heptathlon, the 100-meter hurdles, the 400-meter hurdles and the shot put. That’s six events total. She’s the DII record holder in the heptathlon, as well as the defending national champion.

THROWS

Men’s Event to Watch: Hammer Throw

Thursday, 3:30pm ET

This event is unique at these championships. Before your very eyes in the course of two hours, you can watch a team either galvanize their chance at the national team title or squander it. Ashland is about as close to the personification of “all your eggs in one basket” as it gets, as six of the Eagles’ 14 total entries into the meet are in this one event.

It would take a major upset to dethrone Findlay’s Justin Welch from the top of the podium as he is more than two-and-a-half meters clear of the rest of the field at 229-5 (69.94m) with the potential for even bigger throws. But Ashland has a great chance to score big points with four men seeded in the top eight and another sitting just back at No. 10. Jordan Crayon is No. 3 at 218-2 (66.49m), just two inches ahead of teammate No. 4 Zac Ball.

They’ll need every one of those points to make a run at Commerce and two-time defending national champion Saint Augustine’s.

They’ll also have to contend with hometown favorite Darien Thornton of GVSU, who is No. 2 at 221-2 (67.41m). No. 5 Masoud Moghaddam of Commerce and No. 6 Caniggia Raynor of Central Missouri will also have extra motivation as both squads are in the team title/podium hunt, particularly pre-meet favorite Commerce.

Women’s Event to Watch: Javelin Throw

Saturday, 11am ET

Of all the events at these championships, none has as many historically significant contenders as does the women’s javelin. Defending champion Bethany Drake of Western Washington may be out after not competing this season, but even without her the event still features four of the top 10 women in DII history (since the introduction of the redesigned javelin in 2000).

Estefania Lopez of Fort Hays State leads the group as the No. 4 woman in DII history at 169-7 (51.69m), followed by No. 6 Allison Updike of Azusa Pacific at 168-7 (51.38m), Drake’s teammate No. 8 Katie Reichert of Western Washington at 165-7 (50.48m) and 2013 national champion No. 10 Mallory Sanner of Seton Hill at 164-8 (50.20m).

Last year’s runner-up, Reichert actually came within three centimeters of surpassing Drake’s winning mark on her final throw, throwing a full six meters better than any of her other attempts on the day at 165-2 (50.34m).

Sanner, meanwhile, will almost certainly need more than the 162-2 (49.43m) heave that won her the 2013 crown.

More Storylines

• It’ll be defending indoor champ vs. defending outdoor champ as top seed Sara Wells of Wayne State (Neb.) and Jamie Sindelar of Ashland go head-to-head in the shot put. Wells threw down the gauntlet indoors, winning by nearly three feet over runner-up Sindelar with a mark of 54-2¾ (16.53m). The gap between them isn’t quite as large this outdoor season, but Wells still has an advantage of more than a foot (54-½/16.47m to 52-10¾/16.12m). The roles are reversed from a year ago when Sindelar was the top seed by about a foot over Wells, and ended up beating her by more than five feet.
• Can anyone upset runaway men’s javelin leader Hendrik Nungess of Texas A&M-Commerce or DII women’s hammer throw record-holder/defending champion Heavin Warner of Central Missouri? Nungess leads all javelin throwers by nearly five meters at 240-3 (73.24m), though the Alaska Anchorage duo of No. 2 Franz Burghagen and 2013 champ No. 8 Cody Parker will be coming for him. Warner has an even bigger advantage of nearly seven meters at 220-7 (67.24m). She could also make a run at the discus title as the No. 2 seed. Men’s hammer throw defending champ Welch is in a similar position as the No. 2 seed in the discus.