More national championships in Topeka please!🏆
much easier than going to Eugene
Last weekend, the first national championships of any kind were held at the Washburn Indoor Athletic facility in Topeka, KS. The venue that opened its doors a little over two years ago hosted fifty-one different NJCAA programs from across the country and hundreds of athletes went head-to-head with the NJCAA’s best. With nineteen junior colleges scattered throughout the state, Kansas is always surely going to be a factor at these championships, and that was no different last weekend in Topeka as 53 women and 54 men combined for 107 All-Americans from Kansas schools, along with eleven national titles.
In the game of numbers, both Barton County and Cloud County led the way for Kansas junior colleges in total All-Americans, with each program racking up twenty-five apiece. However, the Cougars hold the upper hand over the Thunderbirds thanks to the five individual national champions they had crowned over the weekend.
After a third-place finish in the 100mH last outdoor season, Danae Nembhard was able to upgrade to gold this time around, as she won her first national title in the 60mH. Nembhard cruised into the finals with an 8.37, which at the time was her second fastest time this season. She put pedal to the metal in the final, lowering her lifetime best down to 8.24 and edging out Cloud County’s Miracle Thompson 8.24-8.25. Nembhard also snagged the final All-American spot in the 60m dash, running 8.11 in the final. While Nembhard took care of business on the track, Brittania Ingram was doing work in the sandpit, taking 3rd in the long jump and winning the national title in the triple jump. After missing the podium in both events last winter, Ingram didn’t miss a beat in her second time around, notching PR’s in both events. In the long jump, Ingram progressed to 18-10.75, over four inches farther than her best mark heading into the competition. In the triple, she eclipsed the forty-one foot mark for the first time in her career, jumping nearly a foot farther than she ever had before, with a NJCAA leading jump of 41-0.25.
Just as she has all season, Kelsie Murrell-Ross was the most dominant athlete in the ring, winning both the shot put and weight throw titles by a healthy margin. Along with a new PR of 60-0.5 in the weight throw, the soon-to-be Georgia Bulldog became the first woman to throw over sixty feet this season. Though she didn’t get a PR in the shot, she did still have over a three foot victory, with her best launch of 52-10.75 comfortably holding off teammate Treneese Hamilton’s throw of 49-4.5. Heading into outdoor, Murrell-Ross has four national titles to her name, and will look to add a few more before the move to Athens. The fourth Barton athlete who left the state’s capital with a national title was Ana Couto, totaling 3945 points in the pentathlon. Couto won only one of the five events of the pentathlon, taking first in the shot put with a best of 43-4.25, but finishing 2nd, 3rd, 3rd and 2nd in the remaining four events (60mH, high jump, long jump, 800m) to secure the title. With a new best in the pentathlon, and a new PR in the 60mH, high jump, shot put and long jump, Couto will look to make it a sweep as she begins her chase of the heptathlon title this spring.
Cloud County’s Vimbayi Maisvorewa was the lone Thunderbird champion, as she took first in the 400m. Maisvorewa stayed undefeated in the event over the weekend, winning the preliminaries in 54.56, and taking it up a notch with a 53.50 in the final. The top returner from a year ago was able to come out on top this time, as she ran the fastest time the NJCAA has seen this season, and she’s the only woman under 54.40 this year.
Along with their national titles, both Cloud and Barton also had a number of top-three finishers, with Cloud totaling seven, and Barton. one. Although she fell short of winning what would have been her first national title, Miracle Thompson had a phenomenal weekend, taking 3rd in the 60m, while finishing as the runner-up in the 60mH. She even helped her 4x400m relay take 3rd as she ran the third leg. Setting PR’s in both finals, Thompson ran 7.43 in the 60m and set a new school record of 8.25 in the 60mH. Vanessa Mercera joined Thompson in the “three-time All-American club,” as she finished runner-up in both the 600m and pentathlon, as well as running a leg of the 3rd place 4x400m. In the 600m, Mercera finished the three-lap ordeal in 1:33.74, roughly half of a second back of first. Despite finishing runner-up, Mercera’s three second PR is certainly a good consolation prize. She also set a new PR in the pentathlon, totaling 3817 points while winning both the 800m and high jump during the competition. Mercera also took 5th in the high jump, as she put up 21.5 points to help Cloud win the close team battle over South Plains and Barton.
Picking up another two top-three finishes was Lucy Ndungu, who did so over the course of forty laps in the 5000m and 3000m. In the longer of the two, Ndungu and the victor, Damaris Chewon pulled away from the rest of the field, and eventually from one another, with the Thunderbird claiming runner-up honors in 17:47.44, a thirty-one second PR, and her first time under eighteen minutes. The 3000m had a similar gap but a bigger party, with four girls breaking away from the thirteen others. Ndungu being one of them, again finishing just behind Chewon, while both of them finished behind Colby’s Emily Diercks, who won in 9:58.94. Ndungu took 3rd as she crossed in 10:10.23, a twenty-six second PR. Finally, that 4x400m I mentioned was Cloud’s final top-three finisher, with the combination of Mercera, Thompson, Maisvorewa and Passion Crews putting together a season best of 3:46.99, good enough for 3rd behind New Mexico Junior College and South Plains.
Four other in-state programs also had at least one top three finisher, as Colby, Hutchinson, Cowley and Fort Scott accomplished the feat. Colby, led by Emily Diercks and her 3000m national title, sat even with Cowley with three apiece. Diercks pulled away from the entirety of the field in the 3000m, remaining the only athlete under ten this season, and her second consecutive time under the barrier as well. In the mile, Diercks was in it the majority of the race, ultimately falling just a little back of the eventual winner Privilege Chikara of Meridian CC, who won in 5:00.11. Diercks was runner-up in 5:01.92, which is her lifetime PR, inching her closer to the coveted sub-five mile. Another Colby Trojan who got the job done in the distance events was Elif Poyraz, who took 2nd in the 1000m, in 3:04.11. The final was considerably more tactical and conservative than the preliminaries, as 3:03.99 won the final. That time wouldn’t have made the final if it was run in the prelims. Time didn’t matter for Poyraz though, as she made the jump to 2nd in the final.
Cowley College, led by a trio of runner-up finishes from Arantxa Cortez, Kayla McClellan and the 4x800m, had a strong showing in all aspects of the competition. Starting with Cortez, who collected her third All-American honor, just short of her second national title in the event. Similar to Cloud’s Mercera, Cortez did leave with a monumental achievement which served as a solid consolation prize, she cleared twelve feet for the first time in her career, setting a new PR of 12-1.5. McClellan was the closest competition that Murrell-Ross had, coming within five feet of her during the weight throw. McClellan’s toss of 55-0 was over two feet ahead of the third place finisher, and just over half of a foot shy of a new lifetime best. The Cowley 4x800m was one of the few that survived the madness that was the 2023 Women’s 4x800m, as they ran in and won the first heat of the event, crossing the finish line on their own in 9:49.72. The team of Delicia Boothe, Dhennifer Vaz, Andrea Garcia-Gonzalez and Abigail Pinnock all earned All-American honors. For Boothe, this was her third time earning honors on the track, and the first time for the rest of the quartet.
Fort Scott’s Damazvia Dames was the NJCAA’s runner-up in the triple jump, as she jumped 40-9.5, which solidified her runner-up finish, coming within less than three inches from Ingram’s winning mark. Dames picked up her fourth career All-American honor, and also recorded her highest ever finish in the event at nationals, after taking 3rd back-to-back championships.
In case you didn’t read the regular edition of The Lead Pack this week, you may have missed that there was some chaos in the NJCAA Women’s 4x800m. Long story short, the meet officials lined up the anchor legs a lap too early, leading to all but one team handing off the baton without finishing the final lap of the third leg. The one team that didn’t hand off early was the team of Gracie Lambert, Taylor Hoskinson, Serenity Larson, and the girl that saved it and kept the door open for a national title was Ellie Van Zelfden. Thanks to Van Zelfden’s quick thinking, she refused to hand off the baton to Larson, and ran her final lap as the rest of the field let their anchor take over. In a new school record time of 9:42.96, the Blue Dragons were the 2023 national champions.
For 2nd-4th, the team race was as tight as you could expect, with just a point and a half separating the three programs. New Mexico Junior College put up 116 points as they were the only team to eclipse the century mark, but Cloud County, South Plains and Barton County were battling it out until the meet concluded. Going into the 4x400m, Barton County had the advantage over Cloud and South Plains, with a lead of 83-78.5-75.5. After the dust settled, a runner-up finish would prove to not be enough for South Plains to jump to 2nd, but enough to edge out Barton for 3rd. Cloud County held off both programs, thanks to the help of their six points from their 3rd place finish. Colby and Fort Scott both tied for 7th, each scoring thirty points respectively. Cowley was 11th with 25.5 points, while Hutchinson, Butler, Neosho County and Garden City scored 11.5, 7, 4 and 3, finishing 15th, 23rd, 26th and 29th.
The Kansas JUCO men had a pretty successful championship weekend as well, collecting four national titles with 11 additional top-three finishes. Colby Community College was the only men’s program with multiple national titles over the weekend, but it was just one man, Sanele Masondo who won both the 5000m and 3000m on the same day. The 2022-2023 season has been ALL Masondo, as he’s won the last three distance championships, including the cross country title in November. Sure, he didn’t win the half-marathon, but I think he would have had a strong chance if he had chosen to run it. If it makes up for it, he won the 5000m at the outdoor championships last May, so we’ll call it even. On Saturday, Masondo and his teammate Kgadi Monyebodi pulled away from the deep field, as both men ran under 14:20 for the first time in their career. Masondo crossed in 14:14.91, with Monyebodi not far behind in 14:16.70. Their teammate Tom Thierry also found himself in an All-American spot, taking 8th in 14:37.65. In the 3000m, Masondo had some less familiar faces with him at the front, as Fort Scott’s Eldad Mulugeta was one of the primary challengers throughout the fifteen lap battle. Masondo would end up outlasting Mulugeta, running 8:11.14 to his 8:12.77. Colby also had Ricardo Barbosa in 6th, running 8:25.50. Just a freshman, Mulugeta had a strong showing at his first ever NJCAA championships, and is sure to be a force to be reckoned with come outdoor.
Samuel Navarro was the other individual Fort Scott All-American, as he finished runner-up in a close race in the 1000m final. Navarro, who set a PR in the prelims, came right back the next day and did it again, running 2:26.61, his second time running under 2:27. This was Navarro’s sixth All-American honor, but his second individual honor. Navarro also ran the Distance Medley Relay, along with Mulugeta, Logan Major, and Jotham Asmerom, who took second in a quick relay, running 9:50.56, their fastest time of the season. It was also the fourth fastest time in the NJCAA this season, but the Greyhounds took down two of the teams that had run faster previously this season.
The Barton County Cougars had themselves an All-American trio of their own, with Brandon Lloyd, Elijah Mosley, and Christopher Young all placing third or better. For Young, he couldn’t have done any better, as he won the shot put title by the slimmest of margins, edging out Coffeyville’s Trevor Gunzell by three-quarters of an inch, 58-10.75-58-10. Lloyd was next up, with a best of 57-0.75. Truthfully, all three men could have won the national title based off PR’s and their performance this season, but this time around it was Young who had enough to outlast the other two competitors. Kansas schools made up five of the eight All-Americans in the event as well, which showed the state’s dominance in the throws at the national level.
Elijah Mosley, a Wichita Heights graduate, has taken his speed to the next level since enrolling at Barton, and is seeing the accolades roll in along the way. In his three national championships he’s competed in, Mosley has finished 2nd, 1st, and 3rd in the 400m, while also helping the 4x400m to top-four performances in all three championships as well. This time around, it appeared Mosley was battling some sort of set back, as he looked like he was in a good amount of pain after crossing the line in 3rd. Running a 46.97 while fighting pain is pretty dang impressive, and it’s even more impressive because that was his fastest performance of the season. It’s also his sixth All-American honor in two years.
Cloud County, led by Mohamed Ahmed and his third straight national title, had a successful weekend as well, with Ben Okraska also taking 2nd in the pole vault, which is his highest ever finish in the event at the national championships. Anson Moses also held his own, doing so in the heptathlon where he finished 3rd. Ahmed, who came into the meet on a three-meet win streak, kept up his momentum with a dominant win, throwing 66-1, over five feet ahead of the next best mark. Ahmed’s chance to win the title was never really in jeopardy, as he was the only man to throw over sixty-one feet. Barton County’s Lloyd was the closest athlete to Ahmed, but was also in a world of his own, nearly four feet ahead of the third place finisher. Lloyd’s mark of 60-7.25 on his final throw would be his best attempt, but he had practically solidified his runner-up finish on his first attempt. Okraska, like a lot of high-caliber athletes we’ve seen was right in the middle of the podium, literally, Okraska finished runner-up after clearing 15-4.25 on his first attempt, which was exactly four inches ahead of third and four inches behind first. This was Okraska’s second All-American honor, and as previously mentioned, his highest ever finish at the championship meet. The third and final Cloud All-American was Moses in the heptathlon, who scored 5002 points, his first time ever over 5000. Moses had a great showing, setting PR’s in the 60m, shot put, pole vault and 1000m, while finishing 4th in the other three events, vaulting him to a new PR. This was Moses’ third consecutive All-American honor in the multi-event, and his highest ever finish at the NJCAA championships.
Nazzio John of Butler was just one-hundredth of a second from tying his PR in the 60m dash, running 6.66 in the final. The winner and runner-up both ran 6.63, and John would end up being the third and final man under 6.70. For John, this also is his highest ever finish at the national championship in any event, and is one of the four All-American honors he’s collected at Butler.
The team race resulted in a tie for first place, as New Mexico JC and South Plains each totaled 107 points, which is something I had never seen before, at least at a national championship like this. Though, no Kansas teams finished on the podium, they had four in the top ten. Barton County was the highest finisher, taking 5th with 48.5 points. Cloud, Colby and Butler rounded out top-ten finishers, finishing 6th, 7th and 9th, scoring 40, 39 and 31 points. Fort Scott, Coffeyville and Cowley finished 11th, 14th and 18th, as they each put up 24, 20 and 18 points. Hutchinson and Northwest Kansas Technical took 21st and 30th, scoring 10 and 1 points.
As I was writing this, I think this format for national championships is the best that I have to offer. I think the job gets done if I rush through a recap in the regularly scheduled newsletter, but I like being more detailed and going more in depth, and disregarding the warnings from Substack about how I’m “near the email length limit”. So, if there is a national championship the prior week, expect an additional newsletter in your inbox!
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