Day 1 Recap: NAIA Outdoor T&F National Championships
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MARION, Ind. -- Point Park University garnered two NAIA All-Americans to highlight its Day 1 performances at the NAIA Outdoor Track & Field National Championships. The national championship meet is behing held at Indiana Wesleyan University in Marion, Ind., and it continues through Friday.
MEN'S JAVELIN
Jakob Blatnik placed third nationally, and teammate Daniel Jacobs placed fifth in the country in the javelin to power the Pioneers on the opening day.
Blatnik and Jacobs both came up with their best throws in their final attempts to secure NAIA All-American honors. Blatnik was challenging for the national title running in the top three spots throughout the prelims and finals. Jacobs had his biggest throw on his final attempt of finals to move up from eighth to fifth place.
Blatnik threw 62.92 on his last toss. That put him in third place in the NAIA for the second year in a row since coming to Point Park. He entered the national meet with the No. 2 seed mark at 67.77 meters, the career best for the sophomore.
Jacobs had his best throw of 61.28 to move to fifth and give him his second Top-5 national finish of his career. It was also his second NAIA All-American honor to go along with fifth place in 2021. Jacobs is a four-time NAIA national qualifier who has been in the Top 18 of the country for four years.
David Friedberg of Reinhardt (Ga.) won his second NAIA national title in a row in the javelin. That was with a distance of 65.93, which came on his last throw. He had been running in second place after Southern Oregon's Andrew Mitchell uncorked 64.93 on his last attempt of the prelims, which stood in first until the very end when he had to settle for second. Blatnik and Mitchell were the only ones in the event with three of their throws above 60.00m.
MEN'S 4X100
The Pioneers were represented in the men's 4x100 relay for the second year in a row. This year's group made it with a school-record of 41.30, and the relay was made up of two freshmen new to the team. The group of Chevaris Moore and Jacoreyus Demps teammed up with veterans Daimere Stephens-Stewart and Damir Lomax this year.
They ran a time of 41.74 in the prelims on Wednesday, which unfortunately did not advance to the finals. That placed 34th in the nation and gave the Pioneers another sprint group making the national championship. Darnell Clemm and Juan Barrera were alternates providing depth in a strong sprints squad for the Pioneers.
MEN'S 4X800
Point Park had its first-ever representation in the men's 4x800 relay at nationals. The Pioneers placed 19th in the country with the group of Logan Gonzales, John Ziegler, Ramiro Gonzales and Elijah James taking the track. The Pioneers had a time of 7:49.52 to get into the Top 20 of the country.
Point Park was running as high as fourth place in its heat at one point with the top two guaranteed to advance to the finals. But the Pioneers fell back in the middle of the race and had to move up a couple of spots to take sixth in their heat. The squad came in with a school record of 7:44 to qualify.
MEN'S 3,000 Steeplechase
Jannik Windelband became Point Park's first-ever national qualifier in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. He did so with a time of 9:30 to set a school record and a national qualifying time earlier this year. Running in the national field, he had a time of 10:08 on Wednesday night, the final event of Day 1 for the Pioneers.
Windelband was in the front of the pack for the first lap and was running in the middle of the pack for a lot of his heat. He ended up 26th in the country to move up from his qualifying spot of 30th.
MEN'S DECATHLON
Peter Dorando continued on the first-time event qualifications for the Pioneers as Point Park's first-ever national entry in the decathlon. Completing five of the 10 events on Day 1, Dorando competed in the 100 meters, long jump, shot put, high jump and 400 meters on Wednesday. At the end of the day, he was in 13th place nationally.
Dorando's best showings on Day 1 came in the long jump with a fourth-place finish of 6.64 meters and taking 10th in the high jump clearing 1.79 meters. The top eight placements earn NAIA All-American honors with Dorando having a chance on Day 2 if he can move up in the final five events including the 110-meter hurdles, discus, pole vault, javelin and 1500 meters.
COMING UP ON DAY 2
The Pioneers will have Dorando in Day 2 of the decathlon (11:00 a.m.), Natalea Hillen in the 100 hurdles (2:00 p.m.), Daimere Stephens-Stewart in the long jump (2:30 p.m.) and Ramiro Ulunque in the 800 meters (2:50 p.m.).
FOLLOW THE PIONEERS
Following along at the NAIA Outdoor T&F National Championship Meet with the NAIA Championship Central page on the Point Park website and by following the team on Twitter @pointparkxctf. Updates and latest contest will be shared there throughout the meet.