Iowa Central pulls away for sixth men's indoor title

CHAMPIONSHIP CENTRAL  |  COMPLETE RESULTS  |  PHOTO GALLERY

Pittsburg, KS – With three first-place finishes, Iowa Central was crowned the 2019 NJCAA Men's Indoor Track & Field National Champion. The Tritons outlasted the field on day two to score 90.5 points to claim its sixth national title at the Robert W. Plaster Center.

With titles in the 200-meter dash, the 3000-meter run, and the distance medley relay, Iowa Central took home its third team championship in the last four years. Barton (KS) boasted a runner-up finish with 80 points while Cloud County (KS) rounded out the top three teams with 63 points.

With just 4.5 points separating the top three teams, including Iowa Central after day one, the Tritons tallied points in nine of the 12 events on Saturday to pull away from the field. The Tritons were led by a pair of individual championship performances from Courtney Lindsey (200-meter dash) and Awet Yohannes (3000-meter run).

  • Iowa Central's six national titles have all comes since 2011 (2011, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018).
  • Along with Lindsey's first-place finish in the 200-meter dash, the freshman set a school record in the 60-meter dash and anchored a school record in the 4x400-meter relay.
  • Miguel Coca, David Dunlap, Thomas Bryant, and Yohannes propelled Iowa Central to the Distance Medley Relay title.
  • Lindsey teamed up with David Dunlap, Ethan Smith, and Phemelo Matlhabe in the 4x400-meter relay with a time of 3:11.32 to set the new Triton mark.
  • Paradise Valley's Israel Oloyede broke his own NJCAA record in the weight throw with a mark of 20.89 meters to claim the title.
  • Leander Forbes of Meridian (MS) set a new NJCAA record in the 600-meter run with a time of 1:16.86.
  • Sophomore Derek Holdsworth of Trinidad State (CO) provided another dominant performance for the second consecutive year, winning the 800-meter and the 1000-meter events.
  • In just the second year of competition for Hawkeye (IA), the RedTrails captured the 4x800-meter relay championship with a time of 7:40.06.
  • Barton was led by a title in the 4x400-meter relay, Stephon Torrence's 60-meter hurdle title, and Kevin Nedrick's first-place finish in the shot put event.
  • CORRECTED: Central Arizona's Jonathan Ply outlasted the field in the men's heptathlon after tallying a meet-best 5,350 points. The sophomore captured three events to earn the first-place finish
  • Indian Hills' Kenny Bednarek brought home the program's first national championship in the 400-meter dash with a time of 45.97 seconds and set an NJCAA record in the 200-meter dash prelims with a time of 20.43.
  • Barton (KS) took home the women's national championship.

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