May 27, 2011

MARION, Ind. - (live results) The second day of the Men's 60th Annual and Women's 31st Annual NAIA Outdoor Track and Field National Championships are in the books at Indiana Wesleyan University in Marion, Indiana.

Friday was highlighted by 15 more champions being crowned on a day where the temperatures never reached 60-degrees. But for the first time in days rain was not in the forecast.

Biola (Calif.) senior Natasha Miller claimed her third straight national championship in the Women's Heptathlon with 5,392 points, winning by 400 points. Her 5,392 points is the fourth most in NAIA Championship history in the event, behind Kim Vanderhoek of Simon Fraser (B.C.) who holds the top three scores from 1991-93.

Celia M'boua of Lindenwood (Mo.) also claimed her third career national championship in one event with a victory in the Women's Triple Jump. Her leap of 13.14-meters (43-1.5) secured her place in the NAIA record books.

Miller and M'boua become the 26th and 27th women to in NAIA Championship history to win an event three times. M'boua is the first to accomplish the feat in the Women's Triple Jump while Miller is the fourth to do so in the Women's Heptathlon.

Bryan Sentman of Oregon Tech won the Men's Decathlon with 7,097 points to defeat Eastern Oregon's Robbie Haynie by 264 points. Sentman entered Friday in third place with five events remaining but overtook first place with wins in the Discus and Javelin. Haynie set a new NAIA Championship record in the Men's Decathlon Pole Vault with a height of 5.05-meters (16-6.75).

Along with Haynie's record during the Men's Decathlon, Simon Fraser broke two additional NAIA Championship records.

The Simon Fraser Women's 3,200-Meter Relay team broke the old record, set by Simon Fraser in 2005, by more than two seconds in a time of 8:41.76. The team of Brianna Kane, Lindsey Butterworth, Helen Crofts and Jessica Smith won the relay by nearly 12 seconds. 

British Columbia's Evan Dunfee also set a new record at the NAIA Championships in the 5,000-Meter Race Walk. He finished in 20:02.25, overtaking the record previously set by Al Heppner of Wisconsin-Parkside in 1997. In the Women's 3,000-Meter Race Walk, British Columbia's Nicola Evangelista earned first place in 23:18.91. The women's race walk moved from 3,000-meters to 5,000-meters in 2010 and Evangelista has won each year.

Wayland Baptist (Texas) was victorious in the Men's 3,200-Meter Relay in a time of 7:33.37. The relay team of Hildon Boen, Mario Scott, Victor Lemay and Jarrod Morris edged McKendree (Ill.) and Oklahoma Baptist to claim 10 points for the defending national champions.

In the most hotly contested final on Friday, Travis Benton of Shorter (Ga.) won a photo-finish race by .002 seconds in the Men's 100-Meter Dash. Benton crossed the line in 10.403 seconds while Brijesh Lawrence of Doane (Neb.) was clocked at 10.405. Santana Lowery of Houston-Tillotson (Texas) won the championship in the Women's 100-Meter Dash in 11.42 seconds.

In hurdles finals, Embry-Riddle's (Fla.) Crystal Bardge took the title in the 100-Meter Hurdles. Virgil Mitchell finished first in the Men's 110-Meter Hurdles in 13.84 seconds, the fastest time at the NAIA Championships since 2003.

Besides M'boua's win in the Women's Triple Jump, the only other women's field event finals on Friday was the Women's Shot Put. Kayla Xavier won that national championship with a toss of 15.84-meters (51-11.75).

Three men's field events took place with Ethan Dejongh of Fresno Pacific (Calif.) winning the first of those in the Men's Long Jump with a distance of 7.52-meters (24-8.25). Staphon Arnold of Azusa Pacific (Calif.) out jumped the field in the Men's High Jump with a height of 2.10-meters (6-10.75) and Nick Robinson of Concordia (Ore.) claimed the win in the Men's Discus with a throw of 52.95-meters (173-9).

In the women's team standings, Concordia (Ore.) holds a slim 38-37 lead over Lindenwood to top the leader board. Defending national champion Azusa Pacific is lurking close behind and is tied for third with Shorter at 30 points.

On the men's side, Doane has opened up a 10 point cushion with 39 points. Shorter is next with 29 points and Langston (Okla.) sits third at 20 points.

The final day of competition begins early Saturday morning with the Men's and Women's Marathon at 6 a.m. ET. The rest of the competition is set for the afternoon with field events beginning at 1 p.m. and track events at 2 p.m.

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

Records Broken - Day 2:
Men's Decathlon - Pole Vault        Robbie Haynie      Eastern Oregon                  5.05-meters (16-6.75)
Men's 5,000-Meter Race Walk       Evan Dunfee         British Columbia (B.C.)       20:02.25
Women's 3,200-Meter Relay         Simon Fraser (B.C.)                                      8:41.76