By Zachary Shore, NAIA Media Coordinator

GULF SHORES, Ala. - (Complete results) On the second day of competition at the 2014 NAIA Outdoor Track and Field National Championships at the Mickey Miller Blackwell Stadium on Friday, 17 national champions were crowned, including the men’s decathlon and women’s heptathlon winners. Both events spanned two days and Doane’s (Neb.) Kale Wolken (pictured to the left courtesy of Michelle White Originals) repeated as the decathlon national champion with 7,356 points, giving the Tigers the last three event titles, the first time a program has done so since former member Azusa Pacific (Calif.) did so from 200-02.. In the heptathlon, it was Karen Ettleman of Northwestern (Iowa) who took home the hardware, winning by 277 points with a score of 5,478, ahead of the 2014 event total.

There were a pair of championship records set on the day with the first belonging to Molly Josephs’ of Missouri Baptist who took home the women’s 5,000m Race Walk Championship in a time of 24:15.86, besting British Columbia’s Nicola Evangelista’s time of 24:11.56 set in 2010. Her teammate, Natalia Alfonzo, finished second with a 25:35.24. In the men’s event, Ben Thorne of British Columbia took home the title with a time of 27:37.50.

The second record fell in the 3,000m steeplechase where Maria Bernard won the prelims by 47 seconds with a time of 10:02.58, besting Justyna Mudy's (Shorter (Ga.)) 2009 record of 10:12.31.

The first relay national champions were also crowned in the 4x800m relay, which was moved from Monday to Tuesday and run as a pair of timed heats. For the first time since 2003, the same team took home both the men’s and women’s title as Oklahoma Baptist took the former in 7:26.28, just .15 seconds behind the championship record, while the latter won their event by a full seven seconds in a time of 8:47.37.

The day began with the men’s and women’s 10,000m run after weather forced the cancellation of Thursday’s competition. British Columbia’s Amelie de Fenoyl took home the women’s championship in a time of 35:27.23 while Geoffrey Kipchumba earned William Carey’s (Miss.) first ever men’s individual title with a time of 30:20.17.

Nine other field event crowns were handed out on the day, with Derek Racette of Friends (Kan.) highlighting the day with the school’s first event men’s crown, doing so in the javelin with a toss of 64.65m (212-1.50). In the women’s event, Joelle Swanson of Oregon Tech took home the title with a throw of 48.16m (158-0.25).

Three other men’s titles were given out with Wendall Williams of Cumberlands (Ky.) winning the long jump with a jump of 7.57m (24-10); Jacob Armbrust of Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) won the discus with a toss of 57.12m (187-5) and Michael Moffitt (Indiana Wesleyan) and Anthony Johnson (Evergreen St.) each cleared 2.12m (6-11.50) in the high jump with Moffitt winning via jumps.

Four other women’s field crowns were won, highlighted by St. Gregory’s Jerica Heyd’s victory in the triple jump, the second ever individual women’s title, with a mark of 12.25m (40-2.25). Oklahoma Baptist won the long jump for the third consecutive year as Elizabeth Dadzie followed Akela Jones’ past success with a jump of 6.17m (20-3) to claim the crown. Jennifer Maag of Hastings (Neb.) repeated as the shot put champion with a toss of 15.44m (50-8) and the final individual title of the day went to Carly Schmidt of Indiana Tech in the pole vault with a height of 3.85m (12-7.50).

Through nine events, Concordia (Neb.) currently leads the men’s national championship with 38 points, 16 better than Doane’s (Neb.) 22. On the women’s side, through 10 events, Concordia (Neb.) also leads with 39 points, just ahead of Oklahoma Baptist’s 26.

The 63rd Annual NAIA Men’s and 34th Annual NAIA Women’s Outdoor Track and Field National Championships will conclude tomorrow with 28 more individual national champions to be crowned as well as the team awards. The men’s and women’s marathon gets the day started with a 6 a.m. CDT start at the Orange Beach Sports Complex. The field events get underway at 1 p.m. with the men’s shot put and men’s pole vault with action on the track beginning at 2 p.m. with the women’s 3,000m steeplechase.

For more championships information, click here.

Records broken during 2015 NAIA National Championships
• Molly Josephs (Missouri Baptist) – Women’s 5,000m Race Walk – 24:15.86 (Friday)

• Maria Bernard (British Coiumbia) – Women’s 3,00m Steeplechase – 10:02.58 (Friday)

Institutions to record first-ever national championships individual title – men’s history
• Friends (Kan.) – Derek Racette, Javelin (64.65m)

• Geoffrey Kipchumba, William Carey (Miss.) – 10,000m – 30:20.17

Individuals/Relay Teams to repeat as national champions –men’s history
• Kale Wolken, Doane (Neb.) – Decathlon – 7,356 points

Individuals/Relay Teams to repeat as national champions –women’s history
• Jennifer Maag, Hastings (Neb.) – Shot Put – 15.44m