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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Greenville College Men's Track & Field Team Takes Third Consecutive NCCAA Outdoor National TitleGREENVILLE, Ill. – The Greenville College men’s track and field program successfully defended their National Christian College Athletic Association championship crown on Friday and Saturday, May 2 and 3, at Indiana Wesleyan University. The men have had an impressive four year run at the NCCAA competition. Since the 2000 season when they finished third, the Panthers have taken the national title the past three years. In this year’s contest, the men amassed 168.5 total points, 33.5 points ahead of second place Taylor University. To win national championships in track, a team must be well represented throughout all 22 track and field events. Overall, the Panthers scored in 19. High scoring in several events allowed Greenville to take the lead early and continue building throughout the meet. G.C.'s biggest point gathering events were the sprints. The 100-meter
dash tallied 24 points, while the 200 produced 19. The decathlon
was also profitable, adding 18 points to the grand total. Both horizontal
jumps contributed to the team cause with the long jump offering
19 points and the triple jump turning out 15. Kenneth Woodhouse joined the three fleet footed runners in the 200-meter dash, making for a Greenville dominated final heat. Tripp again led the way for the Panthers with his second place showing (21.83 seconds). Donaldson was in close contention, running 21.84 for third. Banks' strong performance (22.10 seconds) earned him fifth. Woodhouse capped off the G.C. scoring, placing sixth and running 22.20 seconds. These four athletes teamed up in the 4x100 meter relay and blitzed to a first place finish in 41.99 seconds, over a half second faster than second place. Nate Johns and Mark Niemuth put together terrific efforts in the decathlon. Johns scored 6396 points to win the two day, 10 event competition. Niemuth tallied a personal best by over 600 points (6128) to take second place behind Johns. Both athletes earned NCAA provisional qualifying scores and are ranked seventh and 16th nationally. Danny Donaldson and Bryson Taylor continue to jump consistently in their events. Both men collected wins this weekend with Donaldson participating in the long jump and Taylor competing in the triple jump. Danny's leap of 23-3 ¼ was a foot better than the second place finisher. Bryson's 48-1 ¼ effort ranks among his top five jumps ever. Brandon Tripp and Josh Westray played supporting cast to Donaldson in the long jump with their fifth and sixth place finishes. Matt Schroeder and Chris Easley gave Taylor excellent assistance in much the same way as they finished fifth and eighth in the triple jump. Taylor also soared 6-8 in the high jump to earn second. Greenville put together a slew of second and third place finishes as the two day competition progressed. Cory Merriman heaved the hammer 163-5 to gain his second place finish. Michael Brewer collected third with a school record and personal record throw of 184-7 in the javelin. Terry Cantley raced to a season best of 49.28 seconds in the 400-meter dash to earn his third place spot. The 4x400 team of Woodhouse, Lucas Cooley, Johns and Cantley finished third by running 3 minutes, 20.15 seconds. Robbie Cochrum's personal record of 9:54.01 in the 3000 meter steeplechase sealed his third place finish in the race. Josh Martsolf, Steve Wilson, David Garner and Nathan Liechty were the distance representatives for the Panthers in the championship effort. Martsolf and Wilson gained points with their seventh and eighth place finishes in the 5000-meter run. Garner nabbed seventh in the 1500-meter run with a phenomenal kick over the last 100 meters of the race. Nathan Liechty chopped a minute off his personal record in the 10,000-meter run and was rewarded with an eighth place finish. When all the results were reviewed, Greenville had five NCCAA national champions and 22 NCCAA All-Americans. Team members competed to 16 personal records, and one school record fell in the process. Several Panther tracksters will continue their season preparing for the NCAA Division III national championships contested May 22-24 in Canton, N.Y. To date, Greenville has 10 athletes who have qualified for the meet. Greenville College is a four-year accredited Christian liberal arts school with more than 1,200 traditional undergraduate, graduate, and adult degree completion students. Founded in 1892 and affiliated with the Free Methodist Church, the college is located in Greenville, Ill., 45 miles east of St. Louis.
Last updated: May
6, 2003 |