It was a great weekend for the Butler Indoor Track and Field teams as both teams finished inside the top 10 at the NCJAA Indoor National Championships in Lynchburg, VA this past weekend.

The women finished 8^th overall scoring 29 total points while the men finished in 10^th place with 28 team points. On top of the team finishes, Butler assistant coach Greg Franklin was named Women's Assistant 'Coach of the Year' announced Friday night at the banquet.

"Coach Franklin being named assistant coach of the year is such a great accomplishment," said head coach Dustin Mettler. "He works so hard and I'm so grateful to have him by my side."

"I'm very proud of everyone who competed at nationals regardless of their places," said Mettler. " From a reaction standpoint I wasn't surprised that they were both going to be a top 10 finishers. They came in with a mission and they accomplished it."

The meet saw a number of Grizzlies performing at high levels but none better than the men's 4x400m relay team who won the event and were named National Champions and first team All-Americans. That team was made up of Cardet Bienvenue, Jerod Elcock, Judah Taylor and Agerian Jackson.

The women's 4x400 relay team finished runner-up running a season best 3:50.05 with team members Jyria Smith, Kaleb McDoanld, Toshel Goffe and Linesha Thompson.

"I would say the women's 4x400 relay surprised me Saturday," commented Mettler. "They ran a season best by three seconds and they just fought hard the whole time."

Shanique Masters clinched the runner-up medal in the women's 600 meter run finishing with a time of 1:34.69. She also was 7^th in the 800 meter run running a time of 2:23.96.

Linesha Thompson pointed in three of her events as she was on the 4x400 relay team but also finished 3^rd in the women's 400 meter and 7^th in the 200 meter.

Kaleb McDonald finished 6^th in the 200 meter and was the second leg of the 4x400 relay team.

Aside from the National Champions, Ollie McGee and Agerian Jackson had the highest finishes in individual events with Ollie McGee placing 3^rd in the 60 meter dash and Agerian Jackson taking 3^rd in the 400 meter.

Agerian Jackson had quite the weekend as he had a 1^st place finish (4x400 relay), 3^rd place finish (400m) and a 5^th place finish in the 600m.

Cardet Bienvenue made finals in the 200 meter and finished 8^th overall running a 21.57.

Obadia Tanui scored a point in the 5000 meter run as he crossed the finish line in 8^th with a time of 15:07.12.

"I am proud about how everyone stepped up and flat out competed throughout the entire weekend. We became a better team this weekend," mentioned Mettler. 

Women's Results Top 8:

4x400 Relay – 2^nd – 3:50.05 (Jyria Smith, Kaleb McDoanld, Toshel Goffe, Linesha Thompson)

Shanique Masters – 2^nd – 600m – 1:34.69

Linesha Thompson – 3^rd – 400m – 55.52

Kaleb McDonald – 6^th – 400m – 56.61

Linesha Thompson- 7^th - 200m – 24.70

Shanique Masters – 7^th – 800m – 2:23.96

Men's Results Top 8:

4x400 Relay – 1^st – 3:11.90 (Cardet Bienvenue, Jerod Elcock, Judah Taylor, Agerian Jackson)

Ollie McGee – 3^rd – 60m – 6.75

Agerian Jackson – 3^rd – 400m – 47.44

Agerian Jackson – 5^th – 600m – 1:20.01

Cardet Bienvenue – 8^th – 200m – 21.57

Obadia Tanui – 8^th – 5000m – 15:07.12

Men's All-Americans

Women's All-Americans:

Full meet results HERE

Butler will turn their attention to the outdoor season at they kick it off at home with the Butch Reynolds Invitational on Friday, March 13 with field events starting at 10:00am from BG Product Veterans Sports Complex in El Dorado, KS.

"With a quick turnaround into outdoor season, we just need to keep doing what we've been doing," said Mettler. "Indoor is preparation for outdoors so we are going to keep on grinding and getting better day by day."