Men's Track & Field Nabs Fifth Consecutive NCCAA Indoor National Championship
Published: April 13, 2021
FINDLAY, Ohio - The Greenville men's track and field team captured their fifth straight National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA) indoor championship Saturday in Findlay, Ohio. The men amassed 129 points, 23 more than second place Cedarville. As in years past, the team used a balanced attack, scoring well in every event area.The weight throwers started things off well, scoring three in the meet?s first event. Nick Ivey threw a strong 49-1 for third place. Mark French had a huge personal best toss of 43-8.75 to earn sixth, and Kyle Foder rounded out the scoring in eighth place. Getting rolling with the running events, the distance squad had two standouts, Josh Martsolf and Beau Meredith. Martsolf placed fourth in the mile run, besting the previous school record time with his 4:22.50. This was not the best mark of the day though for the Panthers. Meredith, pushing just a bit more, turned in a 4:21.16 for second and established a new school standard.Meredith doubled back in the 3000 meter run and really showcased his abilities. Biding his time, he eventually took the lead and held on for the win in a national meet record time of 8:40.99.Greenville's only other individual event champion came in the long jump. Ryan Garnett leapt 22-3.5, easily defeating second place by over four inches. Also scoring in the long jump was Josh Westray, sneaking into eighth place.In the triple jump, the men saw three jumpers net points. A less than 100 percent Matt Schroeder wound up taking third in the competition, with his one and only jump of 44-3.5. Chris Easley and Kevin Kirchner added points with their fifth and sixth place finishes. Both Easley and Kirchner produced season best marks. Easley bound out 43-11.75, while Kirchner hopped to 43-3.25, also a personal best leap.The 55 meter dash was the team's most profitable event on the day. In all, four athletes gained 17 points towards the eventual team victory. Brandon Tripp led the way blazing 6.46 seconds for third place. Running a personal record in fourth was Kenneth Woodhouse, racing 6.58 seconds. Not too far behind was Ryan Garnett, completing the short race in 6.69 seconds for fifth. Josh Westray finalized the men?s efforts with his seventh place personal record of 6.75 seconds.Tripp doubled back in the 200, where he placed second in 22.59 seconds. Diondre Williams offered solid backup in fourth place, running 22.90 seconds. Woodhouse doubled back in the 400, claiming fourth place in 51.20 seconds. Matt Rush and Jarod Renford teamed up in the 55 meter hurdles to gain nine points, Rush placing second with Renford following in eighth.The men's relays were a testament to the team's depth, counting for 28 of the 129 points. Once again, the sprint relays were top notch. The 4x200 meter team comprised of Williams, Tripp, Rush and Garnett went to the lead from the gun and stayed there, running 1:33.08.The other relay victory went to the 4x400 meter team. Woodhouse led off to Terry Cantley, followed by Renford. Coming in to anchor Garnett, the Panthers were running in a close second. After sitting for one lap, Garnett surged hard down the back straight to take the lead and hold on for the exciting win, a win that sealed the team victory for Greenville.With most of the men completing their 2005 indoor campaign, winning the latest edition of the NCCAA indoor national championship was a positive way to bring it to a close. A few men will continue pursuit of NCAA Division III national qualifying marks in hopes of competing at the NCAA indoor championship in Bloomington, Ill., March 11-12.
