Story by Wyatt Ebersole
HOBBS, N.M -- Another successful year in the history of the Butler Track and Field program concluded this past weekend at the NJCAA Division I Outdoor National Championships, including a top-6 finish for the men, and the men's 4x100 team winning their second consecutive outdoor national championship. The Grizzlies had three different teams record top-3 finishes and had seven individual athletes record top-7 finishes across four different events.
On the men's side, the highlight of the weekend came on Saturday, when the 4x100 team of Shawn Brown, Andre Morrison, Javari Thomas, and Nazzio John finished first in the event with a time of 38.89 seconds, winning the second straight 4x100 outdoor national championship for the Butler Men's Track Team.
Nazzio John in particular had an outstanding weekend. In addition to being a member of a national championship team, John finished second in the men's 100-meter dash with a time of 10.11 seconds, and he finished second in the 200-meter dash with a time of 20.35.
Shawn Brown, another member of the 4x100 team, also put together a great weekend. He finished fourth in the 100-meter dash with a 10.22 time, and he finished sixth in the 200-meter dash with a time of 20.72 seconds.
Wrapping up the men's action, the 4x800 team of Andrew Leck, Wail Bourahli, Abdelhakim Boukhiar, and Zach Trotter finished third in the event with a time of 7:37.08.
In the 800-meter race on Saturday, Bourahli and Trotter performed well, Bourahli finished sixth with a time of 1:49.21 and Trotter finished seventh with a time of 1:49.65.
The standout efforts and performances helped lead the Grizzlies to a sixth-place finish as a team at nationals.
Switching over to the women's side, the women's 4x800 team of Star Mpama, Khloi Bird, Grace Cantrell, and Trishanie Warner finished third in their event with a time of 9:45.27.
In the hurdles section, Joda Campbell finished fourth in the event with a finishing time of 13.81.
As a team, the women finished tied for 17th out of 35 teams competing at the NJCAA Outdoor Nationals meet.
