DELAWARE, OHIO - In a team race that couldn't have been much closer than it was throughout the weekend, it was fitting it took until the final event for it to be decided at the 2014 NCAA Division III men's outdoor track and field championships, hosted by Ohio Wesleyan University at its Selby Stadium and George Gauthier Track on Saturday.
With Mount Union leading perennial powerhouses Wisconsin-La Crosse and North Central (Ill.) 37-36-31 going into the 4x400, the Purple Raiders turned to the quartet of junior Tyler Mettille, sophomore Tyler Sparks, junior Chase Swisher and sophomore Chad Gentry. They delivered, holding off a strong charge throughout from Augustana (Ill.) to win the race in 3:09.81.
The victory left the Purple Raiders five points clear of Wisconsin-La Crosse for the program's first outdoor track and field national title, 47-42. North Central wound up third with 35 points, while Wisconsin-Oshkosh was fourth with 26 points, and Augustana rounded out the top five with 25 points.
"This championship means everything (to our program)," Mount Union head coach Kevin Lucas said. "Everyone of our guys stepped up whether it was the 4x400 meter relay winning the title, the 4x100 team taking fifth out of lane one … all the way down the line."
On the individual side, recurring themes from the final day of the 2014 NCAA Division III men's outdoor track and field championships were returning success and photo finishes.
Salisbury (Md.) sophomore Luke Campbell and Baldwin-Wallace senior Kevin Johnson turned out to be the biggest of the individual champion stories. In just about an hour and a half between their events, each of the duo won two championships.
Campbell claimed his second straight championship in the 110-meter hurdles and moved to the top of the podium in the 400-meter hurdles after placing third as a freshman. Campbell caught fire midway through the event and cruised to the win in :13.82, just three-hundredths of a second off the national championships' record. The three-time outdoor national champion and four-time outdoor All-American's final kick was similar in the 400 hurdle event, as he rolled to a time of :50.35.
Johnson kept his record unblemished against Division III competition during his senior season. He blazed to the 100 (10.5 seconds) and 200 (20.98 seconds) meter championships.
Michael LeDuc, a senior from Connecticut College, added to the theme of returning success. He successfully defended his 3000-meter steeplechase title, defeating the field by nearly nine full seconds (8:45.77 – 8:53.44). The victory made him a combined three-time national champion in cross country (the 2013 winner) and track and field and a three-time All-American in track and field.
Wisconsin-La Crosse's tradition of field event success continued at the 2014 national championships. Junior Grant Havard, a two-time All-American, jumped up to the top of the podium in the discus after taking third a year ago. His throw of 188-11 bested the field by more than 15 feet.
Wisconsin-Oshkosh's McKena Ramos and Washington & Lee's Alexander Tallman needed to use every bit of their races to win national championships for the photo finish angle. Ramos, a freshman, held off St. Olaf sophomore Paul Escher by 29-hundredths of a second (3:47.83 – 3:48.12), while Tallman leaned at the line to nip SUNY-Oneonta's Joe Carr by four hundredths (47.19 – 4.23) for the 400 meters championship.
More champions from the final day of the championships included sophomore Jamie Ruginski of Southern Maine in the triple jump (49-7¾); Johns Hopkins' Andrew Cleary, the only senior in the field, claimed the 800-meter run in 1:50.62 with a strong kick in the last 50 meters; La Verne (Calif.) taking the 4x100 meter relay (40.52 seconds) due to a blistering anchor from senior Chancise Watkins, who later was also a runner-up in the 200; Penn State-Behrend's Mitch Obenrader highlighted an impressive freshman campaign winning the javelin at 219 feet, 10 inches; and Haverford's Chris Stadler stopped North Central's John Crain's bid for a weekend double by rallying on the last lap to win the 5000 in 14:11.28.
Final ResultsNCAA championships page
