May 26, 2011

MARION, Ind. - (live results) Eight national champions were crowned on Thursday during the first day of the 2011 NAIA Outdoor Track and Field National Championships being held at Indiana Wesleyan University in Marion, Indiana.

The only hitch of the opening day of the 60th Annual Men's and 31st Annual Women's events was the continuation of rain that has hit the area hard for three consecutive days. With the rain seeming to stop during the last hour of competition on Thursday it came with evening temperatures into the mid-50's.

But the weather was not a factor for either of the defending champions in the Hammer Throw as Saint Francis (Ind.) senior Jean Marqueling in the Women's Hammer Throw and Bruno Boccalotta of Lindenwood (Mo.) in the Men's Hammer Throw each successfully defended their titles on Thursday.

Marqueling defended her national title with a winning toss that was two meters farther from the title toss last year. Her throw of 58.03-meters was 1.38-meters better than the field. Boccalotta won with a throw of 60.87-meters and was victorious by 1.06-meters.

Four other student-athletes were crowned national champion on Thursday in field events.

The Women's Javelin saw a new champion for the first time in years as Mount Mercy (Iowa) sophomore Jenna Higgins won the event with a throw of 45.79-meters. The NAIA Championship record holder in the event, Liz Gleadle of British Columbia (B.C.), graduated last year after winning the Women's Javelin four straight times.

Andrew Kolodinski of Westmont (Calif.) captured the victory in the Men's Javelin with a toss of 67.27-meters. Shorter (Ga.) junior Ashlie Stewartson leaped 6.19-meters to earn the championship in the Women's Long Jump while Sioux Falls (S.D.) sophomore Brigitte Gross was victorious in the Women's Pole Vault with a height of 4.0-meters.

The 10,000-Meter races brought a close to the opening day and were the only finals for the track events. Obsie Birru of Grand View (Iowa) became a two-time champion in the Women's 10,000-Meter Run with a time of 34:49. Birru's time was 1:28 faster than her winning time from 2010. On the men's side, Shorter (Ga.) freshman Paul Chelimo won in a time of 29:44. The top five runners in the contest were separated by less than five seconds.

Thursday also featured the first half of the Men's Decathlon and the Women's Heptathlon.

Eastern Oregon junior Robbie Haynie tallied 3,637 points through five events. Haynie holds an 87 point lead following the 100-Meter Dash, Long Jump, Shot Put, High Jump and 400-Meter Dash. Biola (Calif.) senior Natasha Miller seeks her third consecutive national title in the Women's Heptathlon with a 308 point lead and only three events remaining. Miller scored 3,301 points in the 100-Meter Hurdles, High Jump, Shot Put and 200-Meter Dash. Miller tied her own NAIA Championship Heptathlon High Jump record with a leap of 1.80-meters.

Shorter and Concordia (Ore.) are tied atop the men's team standings with 16 points following three events on Thursday. In the women's team standings after five events scored, Sioux Falls tallied 23 points and leads second place Shorter with 18 points.

Day two of the 2011 NAIA Outdoor Track and Field National Championships will begin at 9:30 a.m. with the Men's Decathlon. The Women's Heptathlon opens at 10:30 a.m. while the Women's Shot Put, Men's Long Jump and Men's 110-Meter Hurdles will kick start the afternoon at 1 p.m.

For more information, visit the Championship website here for the men and here for the women.

Records Broken - Day 1:
Women's Heptathlon High Jump (Tied)     Natasha Miller     Biola (Calif.)     1.80-meters