The Butler indoor track & field teams had a big showing at the 5^th Annual Gorilla Classic this past Friday and Saturday setting some top times in the NJCAA and qualifying for Indoor Nationals in ten more events.

Mark Doyley stole to show with his blazing fast 6.65 60 meter dash time in the finals on Saturday. Doyley won the event and is now tied for the fastest time in the NJCAA in the event. Teammate Ollie McGee wasn't far behind finishing in second in the 60m dash running a season best 6.72. Caleb Jackson finished in 6^th place with a 6.84.

"We all knew he (Doyley) could run like that is was just a matter of when he would do it," said head coach Dustin Mettler. "It was great to see him do what he is capable of. He is peaking at the right time."

Shanique Masters turned some heads with her performance in the 600 yard run, with a conversion time of 1:25.53 (600meter). She finished in third place in the meet and holds the second fastest time in the 600m run this season in the NJCAA. Zadie St. Louis also had a personal best in the 600yard running a converted 1:37.31 to finish 10^th in the meet but posted the fourth fastest time this season in the NJCAA.

Both the Women's & Men's 4x800m Relay teams qualified for Indoor Nationals at the Gorilla Classic with both running the fastest time this season in the NJCAA in this relay. Both finished in third place with the women running a 9:45.34, the fastest time in the NJCAA this season, (Zadie St. Louis, Linesha Thompson, Michelle Sanchez, Shanique Masters).

The men ran a 7:51.26 at the meet, which is also the fastest recorded time this season in the NJCAA.

The Grizzlies added to their already long list of national qualifiers this weekend making it a total of 44 events (includes duplicates in some events with multiple athletes) that the Grizzlies have qualified for. Eighteen on the women's side and twenty-six on the men's side.

"This meet was a great confidence boost for all of our student-athletes," said Mettler. "Competing at a high-level right now will hopefully carry right over to the Region VI Championships next weekend."

The Grizzlies will compete in the Region VI Indoor Championships this coming weekend, February 21-22, in Pittsburg, KS.

"The meet this weekend was important because they need to know how to run their races on an oversized track," commented Mettler.

Women's Top Results:

3^rd – 600yard run converts to 1:25.53 – Shanique Masters

10^th – 600yard run converts to 1:26.89 – Zadie St. Louis – 4^th in NJCAA

18^th – 200m dash – Jyria Smith – 25.36

21^st – 5000m run – Sylvia Korir – 19:03.31

3^rd – 4x800m relay – 9:45.34 – fastest time in NJCAA

(Zadie St. Louis, Linesha Thompson, Michelle Sanchez, Shanique Masters)

Men's Top Results:

1^st – 60m dash – Mark Doyley – 6.65 – Meet record & fastest time in NJCAA this year

2^nd – 60m dash – Ollie McGee – 6.72

3^rd – 4x800m relay – 7:51.26 – fastest time in NJCAA this season

6^th – 200m dash – Dylan Swain – 21.64

6^th – 60m dash – Caleb Jackson – 6.84

(Agerian Jackson, Phillip Armbrister, Juan Tovar, Tarik Xavier)

7^th – 200m dash – Jerod Elcock – 21.74

13^th - Distance Medley Relay – 10:33.30 – National Qualifiers

12^th – 200m dash – Mark Dooley – 21.81

(Tarik Xavier, Agerian Jackson, Phillip Armbrister, Juan Tovar)

13^th – Distance Medley Relay – 10:33.30

(Tarik Xavier, Agerian Jackson, Phillip Armbrister, Juan Tovar)

New National Qualifiers:

Men's Distance Medley Relay:

(Tarik Xavier, Agerian Jackson, Phillip Armbrister, Juan Tovar)

Kaleb McDonald – 400m Dash

Obadia Tanui – 3000m Run

Women's 4x800m Relay:

(Zadie St. Louis, Linesha Thompson, Michelle Sanchez, Shanique Masters)

Men's 4x800m Relay:

(Agerian Jackson, Phillip Armbrister, Juan Tovar, Tarik Xavier)

Sylvia Korir – 5000m Run

Shanique Masters – 600m Run

Zadie St. Louis – 600m Run

Wilisha Ware – 60m Dash

Men's Distance medley Relay:

(Tarik Xavier, Agerian Jackson, Phillip Armbrister, Juan Tovar)

This season, the Grizzlies have posted some NJCAA top performances and those times are holding strong atop the national leaderboard.

Butler Women Top 10 NJCAA Events:

60m Dash (1)

200m Dash (1)

400m Dash (1)

600m Run (2)

800m Run (1)

5000m Run (1)

4x400m Relay 6^th fastest time in NJCAA

4x800m Relay 3^rd fastest time in NJCAA

Distance Medley Relay 6^th fastest time in NJCAA

Butler Men Top 10 NJCAA Events:

60m Dash (4)

400m Dash (1)

600m Dah (1)

5000m Run (1)

4x400m Relay 9^th fastest time in NJCAA

4x800m Relay 3^rd fastest time in NJCAA