Lincoln (PA) rallies on final day to win Division
III Outdoor Men's Track Championship
May 29, 2005
By Rob Knox
Lincoln Sports Information
WAVERLY, Iowa – After a four-year drought, the Lincoln (28) University
men’s track team captured its first NCAA Division III National Championship
since 2000 with a stunning performance on the final day of the NCAA Division
III Track and Field Championships at Walston-Hoover Stadium on the campus of
Wartburg College Saturday afternoon.
After entering the final day without any points, Lincoln rallied past four-time
defending champion Wisconsin-LaCrosse, 69-66.5 to win its seventh outdoor crown
in school history. Lincoln, which entered the final event of the day (4 x 400)
with a five-point lead, won outdoor titles in 1985, 1990, 1995, 1996, 1999
and 2000. It was the 16th national championship, including indoor and outdoor
titles, for men’s and women’s track coach Cyrus Jones. Rounding
out the top five after Lincoln and Wisconsin-LaCrosse were Nebraska-Wesleyan
(54 points), Williamette (43) and North Central College (31.5).
The Lions received first-place finishes from their Providence (R.I.) triumvirate
of sophomore Bobby Young (400-meters), senior Augustine Schmader (100-meters)
and freshman Yudehwheh Gbaa (triple-jump) along with second-place finishes
from Young in the 200, Jeff Jasmin in the 400-meter hurdles and the 4 x 400-meter
relay team to wrestle the crown from Wisconsin-LaCrosse and earn all-American
honors.
Thanks to a pair of second-place finishes from sophomore Precious Macklin
(Philadelphia, PA./Bartram) in the 100-meter dash (11.85) and 200-meter dash
(24.27) the Lincoln women finished 17th overall with 16 points. Host Wartburg
College edged Wisconsin-Oshkosh and Calvin College, 43-42 to claim the women’s
crown.
“I told the kids before we left the hotel that today that in order for
us to win, they had to run a flawless race in all eight events,” Lincoln
coach Cyrus Jones said. “And for the first time in my 31 years at Lincoln,
I haven’t seen anything as devastating and outstanding as I saw today
with those kids across the board. In every event, they gave everything that
they had. It’s just overwhelming to me at this point and so exciting.
I am so proud of these kids.”
Young won the 400-meter dash title with a school-record 45.95-second performance,
a Division III season best and Walston-Hoover Stadium record. In becoming the
third Lion in school history to win the 400-meter dash and first since Clive
Terrelonge won the event in 1991, Young erased Barry Fearon’s 20-year
mark of 46.85.
Nate Olson (Wisconsin-LaCrosse) took second for the second consecutive year,
turning in a time of 46.28, while Wartburg’s Josh Hauser, a junior, finished
third with a time of 47.28.Young also placed second in the 200-meter dash (21.09)
finishing behind Howard Payne’s Greg Nixon, who won the race in 20.96
seconds. Young and Schmader were also a part of the Lions’ silver-medal
winning 4 x 400-meter relay team (3:09.86) along with Keko Goldman (Pleasantville,
N.J./Pleasantville) and Lance Wigfall (East Orange, N.J./East Orange Campus).
“Standing on the podium (while receiving the championship trophy) was
fun and different,” Young said. “It’s nice to receive a first-place
trophy instead of a second-place trophy. It hasn’t sunk in that we won
the national championship. We remained disciplined and stuck together as a
family. Even though we knew we were ahead entering the 4 x 4, there was no
pressure because we knew we could run that relay. We just had to finish first
or second.”
In bettering the Waltson-Hoover Stadium record, Schmader won the men’s
100-meter dash in a time of 10.53 to become the fourth Lincoln runner in school
history to win an individual outdoor national title in this event. John Biacofsky
(Mt. Union) finished second at 10.63, while third place went to Nixon, who
ran a 10.66. Schmader, who had been bothered with injuries during the outdoor
season, shrugged off a delay at the beginning of the race caused by a false
start and stayed focused until he crossed the finish line. Schamder joins Brandon
Jones (1992, 1993, 1995), Dayne Ross (1999) and Chaz Clemons (2000-2003) as
NCAA 100-meter dash champions. A Lincoln runner has won six of the last seven
100-meter dash national championships.
“Winning the 100 is amazing because I wasn’t one of the top guys
coming in,” Schmader said. “I didn’t react well to the gun
at the beginning of the race, but my drive enabled me to accelerate and pull
away at the end of the race. Then I felt flat for a second but when I heard
my competitors coming on I held my composure. I did what I came here to do.”
Gbaa picked the perfect time to turn in a personal-best performance by winning
the triple jump with a leap of 49-6.25, a Division III season best and Walston-Hoover
Stadium record. The freshman beat out returning 2004 All-America honoree Fred
Jones (Tufts), who recorded a jump of 49-1.75. Bryson Taylor, a senior from
Greenville, took third at 48-11. Dubuque’s DeAndre Bovan finished fourth
at 48-10.25. Gbaa is the third Lion to win an individual national title in
the triple-jump, joining Thomas Thompson (1997) and Justin Jarmon (2003).
“This feels awesome,” Gbaa said. “I was just coming into
this event trying to place. I had the ninth-best qualifying jump, so I was
shooting to score my team some points in this National Championship by placing
eighth. I’ve never hit 48 in my life, and today I hit 49. This feels
so good. All my hard work and practice with my coaches paid off for me.”
Jasmin finished second in the 400-meter hurdles (52.26) behind Blake Bam of
Monmouth (Ill.). In the 110-meter hurdles, Pierre Chapman (Linden, N.J./Linden)
finished fourth (14.43) and John Fudge (Philadelphia, PA./Simon Gratz) placed
eighth (15.00). Chapman and Fudge also earned All-American honors for the Lions.
The Lions’ 4 x 100-meter relay team earned a fourth place finish (40.88)
by running its fastest time of the outdoor season.
As the day unfolded Lincoln started to gain confidence that it could still
win a title. Wisconsin-Lacrosse, which has won 21 track national titles, entered
the final day with 24 points.
“After Bobby won the 400 and I won the 100, we started to believe that
anything was possible,” Schmader said. “Then we heard that Yudehwheh
won the triple jump and we saw that Wisconsin-LaCrosse didn’t do well
in the 5,000, we were like we have a chance to win this. We were so focused
coming into today and we were concerned with scoring as many points as possible.”
For Lincoln, the national championship is the perfect cherry on top of a phenomenal
outdoor season. The Lions men’s track team qualified for two Championship
of America races at the Penn Relays. The 4 x 400-meter relay team established
the school record on two different occasions.
Lincoln's Precious Macklin won All-America honors in women's events finishing
second in the 100m dash and 200m dash. The Lady Lions finished 17th overall
with 16 points.
HBCU All Americans at NCAA Division III Outdoor Track Championships
Men
John Fudge - Lincoln (PA) - 110mH
Yudehwheh Gbaa - Lincoln (PA) - Triple Jump
Keko Goldman - Lincoln (PA) - 4X400m Relay, 4X400m Relay
Jeff Jasmin - Lincoln (PA) - 400mH
Augustine Schmader - Lincoln (PA) - 100m, Triple Jump, 4X100m Relay, 4X400m
Relay
Lance Wigfall - Lincoln (PA) - 4X400m Relay
Bobby Young - Lincoln (PA) - 200m, 400m, 4X100m Relay, 4X400m Relay
Women
Precious Macklin - Lincoln (PA) - 100m, 200
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