MEET RECAP: 2021 NAIA Women's Indoor T&F Championships
Indiana Tech returned to the top in dominating fashion by winning the women’s team crown at the 2021 NAIA Indoor Track & Field Championships Friday at the Ruth Donohue First Dakota Fieldhouse in Yankton, South Dakota.
The top-ranked Warriors racked up 111 points to nearly double-up fourth-ranked William Carey (Miss.), who repeated as runner-up with 63 points. Rounding out the top-5 were second-ranked Concordia (Neb.) with 49 points, ninth-ranked Friends (Kan.) with 36 and fifth-ranked Dordt (Iowa) with 35.
Indiana Tech’s title was the first for its women’s program since 2017, as the meet contested mostly split sessions for the first time in the 41 years that included women’s competition. The meet concludes Saturday with most of the men’s events (Indiana Tech’s men are in the hunt for a sweep of team titles).
The Warrior women started strong and were led by iron woman Leondra Correia, who won three individual titles and scored a total of 38 points. Correia placed first in the pentathlon, high jump and 60-meter hurdles – an event she previously won in 2019 – and finished fourth in the long jump and fifth in the triple jump. She set seasonal bests in four of the five events.
The pentathlon title by Correia on Wednesday set the tone for the Warriors – not only did she win by more than 100 points, but led a 1-4-5 scoring barrage for Indiana Tech, giving it a team lead it would never relinquish. Correia had been runner-up in the pentathlon in 2018 and 2019.
The Warriors accumulated their points in bunches, landing multiple scorers in a total of six events. Indiana Tech had its most in the long jump with four, plus added three in the 200 meters and two in the 400, 60 hurdles and triple jump. Those six events gave the Warriors 81 points.
There were three other multiple winners in the meet and William Carey had two of them: Aniekeme Etim successfully defended her titles in the 60 and 200; Brittany Jones did the same in the long jump while also winning the triple jump.
Huntington (Ind.) freshman Emma Wilson joined Correia with a part of three victories. She swept the mile and 3000 meters and added the anchor leg on the Foresters’ winning distance medley relay team.
