MEET RECAP: 2021 NJCAA DI Outdoor T&F Championships

Champions were crowned on Thursday afternoon at the 2021 NJCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships in Levelland, Texas.

An exciting final day saw numerous lead changes and both races for the team title go down to the meet-ending 4×400 relay, but when the dust settled, Barton County CC and South Plains College shared the men’s crown with 101 points, while South Plains College edged New Mexico JC by 2.33 points for the women’s crown, 110.33 to 108.

Keep reading below to find out what transpired on the campus of South Plains College!

Men’s Story

Here is what was at stake entering the 4×400 relay on Thursday.

Cloud County CC led the competition with 96 points after a furious comeback. The T-Birds scored 23 combined points in the discus and triple jump to surge into the lead and needed more than 10 points in the 5000 to assure themselves a second national title in a row. Cloud County CC only got three points in that aforementioned event and didn’t have a relay team, so that left the door open for second-place Barton County CC and third-place South Plains College, which had the two fastest relay teams in the nation coming into the meet.

If South Plains College lived up to their top-ranked billing in the 4×400 and Barton County CC finished runner-up – which is where it was on the Descending Order List – the Texans and the Cougars would share the national title. Cloud County CC would finish third.

If Barton County CC pulled off the upset in the 4×400 and South Plains College took second, then the Cougars would be crowned national champions with the Texans second. Cloud County CC, again, would finish third.

If catastrophe struck and Barton County CC and South Plains College both finished worse than sixth in the 4×400 relay, Cloud County CC would win the national title.

Well, once the anchor legs started, it was clear that either Barton County CC or South Plains College would win. Gamali Felix of Barton County CC led through 200 meters, but South Plains College had their ace Khaleb McRae as anchor. McRae, who won the individual title in the 400, pulled even with Felix around the final curve and surged ahead down the homestretch.

Final result: South Plains College, 3:06.71; Barton County CC, 3:07.19.

It would be the first time since 2007 that there would be co-national champions.

Women’s Story

New Mexico JC was well on its way to winning its fourth consecutive national title.

The T-Birds led by a comfortable margin through two days and had a wealth of opportunities on the third and final day – but so did South Plains College. Even after Flomena Asekol took top honors in the 1500, NMJC knew it still had work to do, because the Lady Texans wouldn’t back down – especially not on their home turf.

Well, after SPC won back-to-back event titles in the triple jump and 400 – and finished sixth and fifth in those two events, respectively – the T-Birds knew they’d have their hands full. That was easy to see, because the Lady Texans shot into the lead with 70.33 points.

NMJC gained the upper-hand after the 100H (80-70.33), saw its lead shrink after the 100 (88-83.33) and then narrow even further after the 800 (91-89.33). Fast forward three events and SPC received its third event title of the day in the guise of Rosemany Chukwuma in the 200 to earn a slim 1.33-point advantage going into the 4×400 (104.33 to 103).

Both the Lady Texans and the T-Birds had relay teams entered in the 4×400, so whichever of those programs finished in front of the other would be crowned national champion.

SPC finished third, followed by NMJC in fourth.

Want to know the difference between the two programs? Try 0.07 seconds.