Track & Field | 3/10/2018 11:32:00 PM
National Champions
Men's Distance Medley Relay: Dustin Nading (1,200), Aaron Whitaker (400), AJ Holmberg (800), David Ribich (1,600)
Men's Mile: Dustin Nading
All-American
Dustin Nading, 1st (mile)
Dustin Nading, 1st (distance medley)
Aaron Whitaker, 1st (distance medley)
AJ Holmberg, 1st (distance medley)
David Ribich, 1st (distance medley)
David Ribich, 3rd (3,000)
Olivia Woods, 6th (800)
Suzanne Van De Grift. 7th (mile)
Kennedy Rufener, 8th (5,000)
School Record
Women's 5,000: Kennedy Rufener, 16:49.68 (old record by Rufener, 16:53.96 (2018)
Women's 3,000: Kennedy Rufener, 9:41.54 (old record by Rufener 9:46.27 (2018)
NCAA DII Indoor Track & Field National Championships
Pittsburgh State University
Robert J. Plaster Center
Pittsburgh, Kan.
WOU WOMEN
800 (finals): 6. Olivia Woods, 2:11.24. 800 (prelims): 3. Olivia Woods, 2:09.16. Mile (finals): 7. Suzanne Van De Grift, 4:50.75. Mile (prelims): 2. Suzanne Van De Grift, 4:50.09. 3,000: 11. Kennedy Rufener, 9:41.54. 5,000: 8. Kennedy Rufener, 16:49.68.
WOU MEN
Mile (prelims): 1. Dustin Nading, 4:13.30. Mile (prelims): 8. Dustin Nading, 4:07.20. 3,000 (finals): 3. David Ribich, 8:01.55. Distance Medley Relay (finals): 1. Western Oregon, 9:41.40 (Dustin Nading, Aaron Whitaker, AJ Holmberg, David Ribich). |
DAY 2 RECAP
PITTSBURGH, Kan.—A day after opening the national champion men's distance medley relay, Western Oregon University's
Dustin Nading earned his second national crown of the weekend by taking first in the mile at the NCAA DII Indoor National Championships on Saturday.
In addition to the two national champions, three other Wolves earned All-American honors on Saturday.
David Ribich placed third in the 3,000-meter run,
Olivia Woods placed sixth in the 800 and
Suzanne Van De Grift took seventh in the women's mile.
After placing eighth in a school record time to earn All-American honors in the 5,000 on Friday,
Kennedy Rufener placed 11th in the 3,000 with another school record performance.
The WOU men tallied 26 points to place sixth overall while the WOU women recorded six points for a 32nd place nationally.
Nading posted the No. 8 time in the prelims with a 4:07.20 and bided his time in the finals as an underdog. Positioned comfortably in fourth place from the gun, Nading maintained the position until the final lap. While approaching the first curve, the junior let the frontrunner from Adams State extend his lead by an extra stride but was able to pick off one runner along the way.
Approaching the final curve of bell lap, Nading initiated another acceleration to move into second place, but still trailed the lead by six meters. Whipping onto the final straightaway, Nading's delayed kick worked to perfection as his acceleration sustained through the entirety of the final stretch, enabling the Wolf to snare the lead with 40 meters to go. Nading crossed the line in 4:13.30 for the win after posting a 4:07.20 in the prelims.
The victory gives Nading three NCAA DII national championships following back-to-back national titles as a member of WOU's distance medley.
Ribich closed out his WOU indoor career with a third-place finish in the 3,000.
Tiffin's James Ngandu, the DII national champion in cross country, sprinted to the front and quickly established a 20-meter lead on the field. Running solo, Ngandu was eventually tracked down by the Ribich-led chase pack.
The national leader in the event with a 7:50.81 to his credit, Ribich took command with less than two laps to go. While eventually dropping Ngandu, Ribich couldn't shake Adams State's Sydney Gidabuday and Harding's Nehemia Too. Holding off until the final curve the pair overtook Ribich, Too on the outside and Gidabuday sneaking in on the inside over the final 20 meters.
In a near blanket finish, Gidabuday crossed in 8:01.26 for gold, Too at 8:01.34 for silver and Ribich 8:01.55 for third.
DAY 1 RECAP
PITTSBURGH, Kan.—Successfully defending their championship, the Western Oregon University men's distance medley relay captured gold in yet another dramatic finish at the NCAA Division II Indoor Track & Field National Championships on Friday.
Placed in the back half of the 12-team pack heading into the final exchange, anchor leg
David Ribich picked off more than a half of a dozen racers to claim gold for the second straight season. Ribich turned in a sub-3:56 split for the final 1,600 meters to pass and hold off the likes of Colorado State-Pueblo and Grand Valley State.
"Whatever happens tomorrow, this is a legendary performance in WOU history. The announcer sensed it and the crowd started to get a feel of what was happening every time a runner was passed. It was electric in the arena over those final laps," WOU track & field head coach
Mike Johnson said.
A year after winning the gold by .001 in a photo finish, the Wolves expanded its winning advantage to .44 with CSU-Pueblo taking runner-up honors.
Dustin Nading opened the relay with the 1,200-meter leg and was followed by
Aaron Whitaker (400) and
AJ Holmberg (800). Nading, Holberg and Ribich formed three-fourths of the championship squad a year ago.In the only individual final of the day,
Kennedy Rufener earned her first career All-American honor with an eighth-place result in the 5,000-meter run. Rufener hovered in the No. 12 position out of 17 competitors through the first two kilometers before moving up the field in the middle sections of the race.
"Kennedy was tripped up at the start and had to work her way back up. It took a little bit, but she seemed to freshen at 900 meters and had a solid and composed finish," Johnson said.
Rufener closed out the distance event with a school record 16:49.68 to score a point in the team standings. The time set a personal best in the event by more than four seconds. In all, Rufener lowered the school record in the 5,000 by more than 34 seconds this season.
After placing fifth in the opening section of the men's mile,
Dustin Nading had to play the waiting game through the second round of competitors as only the top three in each heat earned automatic advancement to Saturday's finals. Nading clocked a 4:07.20 and finished with room to spare as all three additional qualifiers were taken from the opener after the winning time in the second section fell back at 4:10.75.
"It was a very physical start. Dustin worked his way up from eighth or so to get to the lead. The race started to slow up and he made the right move to get through comfortably," Johnson said.
Nading's time stood as the No. 5 mark on the day. Adams State's George Kelly topped the first heat with the fastest time in prelims at 4:06.15. Nading holds a season and career best of 4:05.50 in the indoor mile.
Leaving no doubt about her position for the women's mile finals,
Suzanne Van De Grift eased through the line in a runner-up result in the opening heat to earn automatic placement to Saturday's race. Just off the shoulder of Walsh's Sarah Berger, Van De Grift crossed the finish in 4:50.09 to Berger's 4:49.90.
Like the men's mile, the opening race turned in faster times than its counterpart as six of the nine total runners moving on to Saturday's finale were represented in the first preliminary group. Van De Grift entered the championships with a 4:48.95 for the No. 7-ranked time in the field with a season best.
"The women's mile had another rugged start. Everyone started to go with a lap to go and Suzie showed poise by not going too early. She stayed with the group and made a late push in what was a wonderful race," Johnson said.
Mimicking her two teammates,
Olivia Woods toed the line in the opening section of her respective event and broke through to finals. Earning her place in the indoor national finals of the 800 for the second straight year, Woods scored a 2:09.10 for third place in the first section.
"Olivia kept herself at the front of the field and protected her position. She felt the field, was alert and moved her way through comfortably but still within range of a lifetime best," Johnson said.
The mark was good for the third best of the day and just off her season best of 2:09.16 that was set two weeks ago at the GNAC Championships. Woods placed sixth at indoor nationals a year ago to earn All-American honors.
WOU will have entrants in five events on Saturday with Nading and Van De Grift opening the day in the finals of the mile.
