Kaymarie Jones
The Paw Print
The Adams State track and field team closed the 2013 indoor season at the NCAA Division II Championship on March 9. The championship was hosted by the Gulf South Conference at the Crossplex Complex in Birmingham, Ala., and was a festival of four NCAA sports: track and field, swimming, wrestling, and diving.
After a long season, the Grizzlies entered the championship with both teams ranked in the top ten. They finished with the men third and the women sixth. Individual titles went to Tabor Stevens, Kevin Batt, and Alicia Nelson. Stevens, of Canon City, Colo., competed like a warrior, taking charge of the men’s mile from start to finish. The redshirt freshman finished in an impressive time of 4.04.10. His teammates Matt Daniels of Arlington, Texas and Stephen Emery of Rugby, United Kingdom finished second in 4.07.50 and fourth in 4.08.99, receiving all-American honors. In less than two hours after the mile, Kevin Batt of Sydney, Australia took home another national championship and all-American for the Grizzlies when he won the men’s 3000 meters in 8:07.30.
But it was David Sanchez of Farmerville, Calif. who gave the Grizzlies hope after the few bumps the team faced earlier in the day. Sanchez raced his way to a third place finish in the men’s 5000 meters, clocking 14:16.12. He then returned to the men’s 3000 meters and finished fifth in 8:13.29. Both finishes were the best of Sanchez’s collegiate career. The distance medley team finished second with Daniels, Derek Brown II of St. Louis, Missouri, Jacob Rider of Delaware, Ohio, and Batt in 9:46.72.
There were a few hiccups on the women’s side which led to their sixth place finish, but seventeenth rewarding points came from the 3000 meters. ASU senior Alicia Nelson of Craig, Colo., was crowned with another national championship title, this time in her new event, the 3000 meters. Nelson stopped the clock at 9:38.42. Sophomore Lauren Martin of Alamosa was fifth in 9:46.50 and veteran Kristen McGlynn-Arendt of Bailey, Colo. finished sixth in 9:46.93.
Kayon Robinson, a junior from Clarendon, Jamaica, posted the fastest 400 meter relay splits of the meet. Robinson clocked 54.43 seconds, a time good enough for a third and her fourth all-American honors. She also joined Nelson, Tayler Warren of Evergreen, Colo., and Alyssa Selve of Santa Clarita, Calif. in the women’s distance medley. The team finished fourth in 11:34.68.
In the women’s 5000 meter run, Kelly Lamb of Creede, Colo. was the only Grizzly to squeeze into the top eight finishers and receive an all-American. Lamb raced to a time of 16.46.09. Katie Kruger of Alamosa also added another all-American trophy to her achievements at the collegiate level. Kruger finished eighth in the shot put with a distance of 14.32 meters.
The Grizzlies will now try to capture early qualifying marks for the 2013 NCAA Outdoor Championship when they face their Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference opponents on March 22 at the Colorado State-Pueblo Open, for their first meet of the outdoor season.
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