Men's Track and Field | 3/8/2016 6:33:00 PM
ALAMOSA, Colo. (March 9, 2016) – All eyes are on Pittsburg, Kansas, this weekend as Adams State University brings a strong contingent to the NCAA Division II Championships on March 11-12.
The event is co-hosted by Pittsburg State University and Crawford County CVB at the Robert W. Plaster Center.Â
It'll be a chance to repeat as champions for the first-ranked ASU men who pulled through last year with a strong day-two performance to topple second-place finisher Grand Valley State University. The crown gave the program its fourth indoor title (1990, 1992, 2010, 2015).
The Grizzlies are well represented this weekend in the 3000 meter run (six runners), 1 mile run (3 runners), and the 5000m run (2 runners). Poised to place highly in two of the aforementioned events is freshman
Sydney Gidabuday who ranks first nationally in the 3000m and 50000m. Entering the Championships, Gidabuday has claimed a trio of titles in the 3000m run along with a title in the mile. The top performances led Gidabuday to recently being named the South Central Track Athlete of the Year by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).
Gidabuday will not be the only Grizzly vying for a top finish as
Dominic Cabada and
Jackson Sayler rank second and fourth, respectively, in the nation for the 3000m.
The other top time for ASU belongs to
Oliver Aitchison in the mile. Aitchison claimed the top spot with a school record-breaking performance of 3:58.59 at the Husky Classic on February 14
th. Aitchison is looking to defend his title in the event after taking first place last season with a time of 4:09.39. Joining Aitchison in the mile are teammates
Brian Baum and
Chandler Reid who rank fourth and tenth, respectively.
Besides the mile event, Aitchison will also compete in the Distance Medley Relay (DMR) along with teammates
Tyler Zito,
Kale Adams, and Baum. Entering this weekend, the Adams State DMR unit ranks second in the country.
Jurgen Themen is slated to compete in the 60m dash as
Chaz Butler will represent the Green & White in the 200m dash. Themen ranks third in the nation in the event and holds the school-record with a feat of 6.65 (6.67 after altitude conversion) which he set at the RMAC Championships two weeks ago. Butler has claimed three titles in the 200m dash this season and looks to improve his season-best mark of 22.08 (21.49 after altitude conversion).
Zach Baxter and
Sam Reid will compete in the shot put for ASU. Baxter is one of two returning indoor All-Americans at this weekend's Championships (Aitchison). With a heave of 17.24m at last season's Championships, Baxter took fifth place. During his senior campaign of 2016, Baxter ranks 10
th in the nation. Meanwhile, Reid will get his first taste of the national stage during his freshman season.
The ASU women will be paced by
Noel Prandoni who is registered to compete in the 3000m run and the DMR with teammates
Roisin Flanagan,
Leanne Allen, and
Chante Roberts. Prandoni holds the nation's sixth-best time in the 3000m run. Returning All-American, Roberts, is slated to run the 800m as
Kelsey Corbin will take to the track in the mile run.
The Grizzlies will also be represented in the 4x400m relay by
Jessica Scherrer, Allen, Flanagan, and Roberts. Scherrer and Allen were members of last season's DMR unit that took home All-American honors with a seventh place finish.
A season ago, the ASU women finished in a three-way tie for 11
th place with 19 points.
All links to live coverage can be found above. The times below reflect altitude conversion marks to match national rankings by
www.tfrrs.org.
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