Abilene Christian’s Nick Jones and Amanda Ouedraogo, and Texas A&M-Kingsville’s Jonathan Woodson each picked up individual national titles at the NCAA Division II Indoor Track & Field National Championships held at Myers Fieldhouse in Mankato, Minn.
Jones added a fourth individual national championship to his personal trophy case in the men’s shot put, while Ouedraogo won the women's triple jump. Woodson topped the field in the 200-meter dash.
The leader from the outset, Jones threw 17.72 meters (58 feet, 1.75 inches) on his first attempt of the competition before a final prelim throw of 17.98 meters (59-0.00). That mark stood throughout the rest of the competition and Jones had his title, posting a mark of 18.02 meters (59-1.50) on the final throw of the competition.
On her first attempt of the competition, Ouedraogo posted a mark of 12.84 meters (42-1.50) and that put her in the lead for good. That was the only jump she made that counted as she fouled on each of her last five attempts of the competition.
Woodson, who entered the meet as the fifth seed, quickly made his intentions known by posting the fastest time in the preliminary heats. In the finals, he crossed the finish line in 21.37 to earn the first national title for the Javelinas since 2005. His effort helped the men’s squad earn the most points (19) in school history at the championship event.
On the men’s side, Grand Canyon won its first NCAA Division II national championship with 54 points, while Adams State finished second with 47 points. TAMUK ended the meet in 14th place, while ACU was 20th (12 points) and West Texas A&M 40th (1 point).
Grand Valley State rolled to the women’s team title with 94 points with Adams State finishing a distant second with 51 points. ACU finished 14th (12 points) and Angelo State was 22nd (6 points).