2021 NCAA DII Indoor T&F Championships – Day 3 Recap

And that’s a wrap for the 2021 NCAA Division II Indoor Track & Field Championships in Birmingham, Alabama! Champions were crowned in a thrilling finale to the indoor season.

Eagles Win Back-To-Back National Championships

Ashland came prepared a year ago to defend its national title; however, they had to wait one more year to do so.

Fast forward a year, and the Eagles got it done.

Ashland claimed its second straight indoor national championship with 70 points to beat GLIAC-rival Grand Valley State (53). A successful title defense gives the Eagles their second indoor title in program history, and their third straight championship as Jud Logan’s team also won the outdoor title in 2019.

It was a complete team effort as the Eagles scored points in the sprints and hurdles, distance, throws and multi event disciplines. They claimed event titles in the 200 and 60H (Trevor Bassitt) and the 4×400, while adding scorers in the 60, 200, 400, mile, DMR, weight throw and heptathlon.

Bassitt Gets It Done For The Eagles

It was a busy weekend for Trevor Bassitt.

After being part of the DMR that finished fifth on Friday night, Bassitt returned to the track for four more events.

He got his day started in the 60 with a third place finish in 6.76 before coming back to the straightaway for the 60H final, where he won in 7.83 for his first national title of the weekend.

Bassitt then won the 200 in a blistering 20.48 for a new meet record, breaking the previous record of 20.81 set by Lamar Hargrove of Tiffin set in 2016. It also gives him the official NCAA DII record in the event – he set an all-conditions best of 20.40 at the GLIAC Championships. The NCAA DII record in the 200 now has to go through Bassitt, both on a regulation track and on the all-conditions list.

The grande finale was the Eagles’ 4×400, as Bassitt teamed up with Tim Rumas, Channing Phillips and Brayden Chaney to claim the title in 3:10.15. Bassitt turned in the fastest split of the day at 45.52.

Young Claims Mile Crown

James Young of Academy of Art will leave Birmingham as a national champion.

Young claimed the individual crown in the mile in 4:00.40 to become the No. 4 performer all-time in NCAA DII history. After the halfway point in the race, Young slowly worked his way up to the front of the pack to battle Ryan Riddle of Missouri Southern. As the two kicked int he final 200, Young had an extra gear coming into the homestretch to pull away from Riddle and Tony Torres of Colorado Mesa to win the title.

The aforementioned Torres placed second in 4:00.68 and is now the No. 6 performer all-time. Riddle finished in 4:01.21 for third.

Men’s 800 Sees Two More Additions To All-Time List

Dennis Mbuta of Grand Valley State claimed the 800 crown in 1:48.62, holding off a strong finish by Seb Anthony of Queens (N.C.) who finished in 1:48.74. Those times make them the No. 6 and No. 8 performers all-time in NCAA DII history.

Butare Rugenerwa of West Texas A&M, already the No. 5 performer all-time in NCAA DII, finished third in 1:48.75.

Anchor Up!

There’s a reason why Grand Valley State was the top-ranked team all season.

The Lakers rolled to a national title on the women’s side with 93 points for a 53 point margin of victory over national runner-up Minnesota State (40). This is the third indoor national title in program history for GVSU and the first since 2012 when the Lakers put up 94 points.

Grand Valley State won four event titles over the course of three days in the 60 (Angelica Floyd), 400 (Nicole Sreenan), pole vault (Ellianne Kimes) and the DMR. The Lakers also scored in the 200, 800, mile, 3000, and 4×400. 11 points were collected in three events – the mile, 3000 and pole vault.

Not One, Not Two, But THREE Titles For Williamson

Two national titles wasn’t enough for Cheyenne Williamson of Saginaw Valley State.

She claimed her third title of the weekend in the 60H, clearing the five hurdles in 8.41 seconds over Denisha Cartwright of Minnesota State. Cartwright finished second in 8.50. It was a PR for Williamson by 0.03.

Williamson also won the pentathlon on Thursday with 4113 points and soared to the long jump crown at 6.35m (20-10) – both personal best efforts as well.

Heat Two Winner In The 4×400

Colorado Mesa won the second heat of the 4×400 in 3:47.09, then awaited their final position as the third heat got underway.

The wait was well worth it.

When the times started to populate on the scoreboard, the Mavericks realized the won the national title.

Hillsdale ran 3:45.45 to win section three, but just shy of Colorado Mesa’s event leading time to give the Mavericks the surprising victory. The quartet of Jill Payne, Mica Jenrette, Sierra Arceneaux and McKenna Molder are the first Mavericks to win a national title in program history.