Two National Champions were crowned Saturday afternoon as the Butler Indoor Track and Field teams completed their Indoor season in Pittsburg.
The Butler men finished seventh overall in the meet while the women took 12th overall.
"I think we had a really good showing at nationals on both the men and women sides," said head coach Greg Franklin. "I am really proud of our women for coming in 12th while having just three of them score. On the men's side we had people from last year stepping up which was good to see."
Two of the biggest stories from the meet were Kiara Brown and Jerod Elcock who were crowned national champions with Brown winning the 200 meter and Elcock taking first in the men's 60 meter.
Brown, who was unable to qualify for the finals in the 60 meter dash, made up for it with a dominating win in the 200 meter running a sub-24 clocking a 23.99 time in the finals to finish atop the podium.
"I am really excited to be a national champion," said Brown, "but that is just the first step for me. I am proud of myself for accomplishing a life goal and my goal was to run sub 24 before indoor ended and I did just that. I still have more meets to attend and another national championship to work towards so until then I am going to continue to work."
Jerod Elcock, after winning the Region VI title in the 60 meter, had one more race to prove that he is the fastest sprinter in the country. He ran a 6.63 in the prelims, the second fastest time in prelims and followed that up with a 6.60 time in the finals, just .03 away from the facility record.
"I am extremely proud how this team came together and pushed each other all season and have now found success at the highest level of meet in the NJCAA," commented Franklin.
Other Top-8 finishers from the meet who earned All-American status with their finishes were:
2nd Place:
Men's 4x400 meter Relay : 3:09.03 (NEW SCHOOL RECORD)
Nazzio John, Joe Williams, Jerod Elcock, Morgan Jamison
4th Place:
Victor Jumo – 5000m – 14:29.25
Kirstin Jones – 400 meter 55.33
Joe Williams – 200 meter 21.15
Men's 4x800 meter Relay – 7:48.92
Valeur Muyoboke, Jared Sylvester, Mario Tullis, Zach Trotter
5th Place:
Morgan Jamison – 200 meter 21.39
6th Place:
Caleb Jackson – 60 meter dash, 6.71
Shawnakay Peart – 200 meter 24.32
7th Place:
Zach Trotter – 800 meter 1:56.09
8th Place:
Victor Jumo – 3000 meter 8:27.45
Coach Franklin was excited about a lot of the performances from his team, but a few really stuck out in his mind.
"A hard as we pushed these athletes all year, no one really surprised me. With that being said, having our men's 4x800 score for the first time since 2015 is very impressive and for Zach Trotter, who is coming off an injury to run a 1:56.09 in the 800 was great to see. Victor was able to score in both the 3000 meter and 5000 meter finishing top-5 in both and our 200 meter guys had a good race coming in 3rd and 4th place with Joe and Morgan. Shawnakay Peart really stepped up and improved a lot and Jerod Elcock did so as well."
Two school records fell over the weekend starting with the Grizzlies hurdlers David Niang and Devoy Pinnock. Both Niang and Pinnock ran an 8.01 good for 10th & 11th at the meet setting a new school record. On Saturday in the final event of the championship, the men's 4x400 meter relay team of Nazzio John, Joe Williams, Jerod Elcock, Morgan Jamison ran a 3:09.03 to finish runner-up and set a new school record breaking the old record of 3:11.88 (2008) with ease.
The Grizzlies will now shift their focus to the spring outdoor track & field season where they open outdoors at the Emporia State Relays March 25-26 in Emporia, KS.
"We are going to focus on people staying healthy and going harder so we can win more relays and individual races this outdoor season," finished Franklin.
