Individual National Champions crowned as Grizzlies finish 5th at NJCAA Track & Field Championships
It was a great weekend on the track for the Butler Track and Field teams as the teams brought home some hardware claiming four national championships in Hutchinson at the NJCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships.
The Butler men took 5th overall scoring 48 points while the women finished 7th scoring 45 points in the final meet of the 2022 outdoor season.
"It was a great weekend for us," commented head coach Greg Franklin. "The way we finished proves that we had the best men's sprinting core in the nation this season and I am really proud of them."
Jerod Elcock had a great meet finishing with two gold medals and a silver as he won the men's 200 meter dash with a time of 20.45. He was milliseconds off winning the 100 meter as he clocked a 10.03 to finish runner-up. Elcock also ran the fourth leg of the men's 4x100 meter relay team that claimed gold with a time of 39.70.
It was a dominant performance for both the Butler men and Butler women in the sprints. On the men's side, the Grizzlies placed three in the 100 meter dash with Elcock taking second (10.03), Caleb Jackson finishing third place (10.20) and Nazzio John taking fourth (10.23).
The women did a similar thing in the 200 meter dash as three Grizzlies placed in that event with Kiara Brown finishing runner-up (23.75), Kaleb McDonald took third (23.80 and Shawnakay Peart took sixth (24.09).
Shawnakay Peart and Kiara Brown both made the medal stand in the women's 100 meter as Peart came in fourth (11.56) and Brown took sixth (11.59).
Four of the Grizzly relay teams made the medal stand with three of them taking gold. The women were dominant winning the 4x100 realy and the 4x400 relay Saturday afternoon. The 4x100 relay team of Kiara Brown, Shawnakay Peart, Kirstin Jones and Kaleb McDonald ran a 45.62 to bring home the title. The 4x400 meter relay team also finished first as the team of Kirstin Jones, Abigail Brooks, Ann Dangha and Kaleb McDonald clocked a 3:45.04.
The men followed up the women's gold with a gold medal of their own winning the event with a time of 39.70 as the team of Shawn Brown, Caleb Jackson, Morgan Jamison and Jerod Elcock dominated the race. The men's 4x400 relay team of Cameron Leiba, Nazzio John, Jared Sylvester and Morgan Jamison made the medal stand finishing 6th in the race with a time of 3:16.36.
Zach Trotter and Victor Jumo also brought home hardware as they made the medal stand on the weekend. Trotter, the only American in the finals, took 6th in the men's 800 meter with a time of 1:53.56 while Jumo also took 6th in the 5000 meter run.
"Our schedule prepared us for the championship meets this season," said Franklin. "We went to big meets during the regular season and competed against a lot of division one schools to prepare our kids for the Region and National meet. I feel that helped them stay composed and compete at a high level this weekend."
Other Grizzlies outside the top eight:
Kaleb McDonald – 11th 100 meter (11.73)
David Niang – 11th 110 High Hurdles (14.54)
Joe Williams – 9th 200 meter (21.00)
Shawn Brown – 12th 200 meter (21.04)
Morgan Jamison – 13th 400 meter (47.75)
Cameron Leiba – 19th 4000 meter (48.03)
Jared Sylvester – 20th 400 meter (48.43)
Kirstin Jones – 9th 400 meter (55.61)
Ann Dangha – 10th 400 meter (55.65)
Alexandra Cleveland – 13th 400 meter (56.47)
Mario Tullis – 33rd 800 meter (2:00.82)
Richard Newman – 13th High Jump (1.97m)
Men's 4x800 Relay – 11th Jared Sylvester, Victor Jump, Mario Tullis, Zach Trotter (7:52.28)
It was a successful season for the Butler Track and Field teams with multiple national champions crowned in both the indoor and outdoor seasons. The men took second in Region VI during the indoor season and finished third place at the outdoor Region VI meet. They cap off the year with a fifth-place finish at nationals.
"It was an incredible season for both our teams, but we are going to start working and push harder for next year," finished Franklin.
