Nikiwe Mongwe's 400m Championship Leads MNU at Nationals

ASHEVILLE, N.C.  – Results | After a season of tough competition, the culmination of hard work was near with the Pioneers sending their top qualifying athletes to the NAIA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Asheville, North Carolina. Each had hit qualifying marks to earn the right to represent the Pioneers at this prestigious event. This year, 14 Pioneers (Hayley Loewen, Nikiwe Mongwe, Nora Powers, Olivia Young, Elijah Bergin, Alex Dawkins, James Farmer-Cole, Lance Jones, Isaiah Keezer, Sam Keita, Gift Orionoma, Jatavion Pegues, Eriyon Stamps, Kortez Washington), including two alternates for the 4x100 relay, satisfied the criteria to earn the right to go to Asheville to battle against the best NAIA athletes in the nation in this three day event.
 
Wednesday, the first day of the Championship, was met with weather complications and delays, but the athletes were not deterred. The Pioneers, however, did struggle when precision was needed most.
 
In the long jump, Young was determined, but the performance was not to the caliber of her liking. In her final attempt, Young hit the board strongly, but it was just not the day she wanted as her toe crossed the plane of the board giving her a foul. Even though it was a day of struggle, Young still finished in the top 20 in the NAIA at 16th.
 
After a long day of waiting, the Pioneer men's 4x100 meter relay team; Orionoma, Jones, Keezer, and Pegues; took to the track, competing in the third heat of the semifinals. Orionoma was out fast with each Pioneer holding his own against the competition. However, in a relay where there was no room for error, a Pioneer exchange hit a snag that dropped them from contention. The Pioneers ended up as #26 in the NAIA Championship.
 
In the 400-meter hurdles, where the Pioneers had two strong competitors, Keita led the way with a first heat performance. After a quick start, Keita's nagging injury came back to haunt him as could be seen around the second hurdle. Keita, however, did not let that stop him from finishing the race, though it took him out of finals. Following Keita, Jones lined up in the final heat of the event for the day. Like Keita, Jones was out to a good start as he appeared to be in the top two positions going down the backstretch. By the time the competitors hit the homestretch, four athletes were fighting for the lead spot, Jones included. Unfortunately for Jones, Tyrone Summerall from Central Methodist proved to be the strongest hurdler in the heat with Jones grabbing the fourth spot. Overall, Jones finished in the top 20 at 16th, with Keita taking 28th.
 
The final event of the day for the Pioneers sent Mongwe to the women's 200-meter starting line in the third of four heats. Mongwe quickly established herself as the athlete to chase. Coming into the homestretch, Mongwe separated herself from the field as she took the heat with a school record setting effort. Mongwe's place and time also placed her in the finals with the top time coming out of the preliminary round.
 
Like Wednesday, Thursday had its share of rain and lightning delays, starting with a wet track, runways, and rings. The women's 3000-meter steeplechase preliminaries had a nice soaking with the competitors charging through it, after all, they were going to get wet anyway. Two heats into the women's 100 meter hurdles, God decided the athletes needed a rest, with lightning delaying the meet for a few hours. However, the meet would go on and so would the tough minded Pioneers.
 
Young and Loewen led the charge for the Pioneers in the triple jump where the wet runways were obviously affecting the performances of all the athletes. Regardless, both Pioneers gave their best effort for the conditions with Young missing the finals by only 4 centimeters and All-America status by 6 centimeters. Young claimed the #10 spot for the day with senior Loewen breaking into the top 20 at 18th.
 
On the track, the Pioneers sent hurdle expert Jones to the starting line of the 110-meter hurdles to showcase his God given talent. Jones performed well as Nic Tozier, Indiana Tech, and he ran away from the crowd to end with a photo finish across the line. Tozier got the heat win but the top two in the heat, Tozier and Jones, earned the right to go on to compete again in the finals on Friday.
 
Next up, and the final race of the day for the Pioneers, was the preliminaries in the 400-meter dash, a consistent stronghold for MNU. Mongwe, like in the 200, made it clear that she intended to make it to finals in the women's division. Coming out of the first turn, Mongwe took charge and never relinquished it, winning the heat with a time that ended up as #2 for all the preliminary heats. Farmer-Cole, likewise, made his presence known in the men's division. He was meticulous in his strategy as he came out of the final turn in first place flying down the homestretch. He won the heat with a personal best which placed him in the finals with the #2 time in the preliminaries.
 
Getting the final day of competition off on the right foot for the Pioneers, Dawkins took to the ring for the discus throw. Wanting to build suspense, he threw just well enough on his third attempt to make the finals in 7th place. Unlike the sprint events which are run in lanes on the track, making it to finals did not mean just completing the event would give you All-America status. Regardless, in his second attempt in the final round, Dawkins launched the saucer to the heavens to grab 4th place overall, All-American, with a school and personal record mark.
 
Following Dawkins in the field events, Stamps did his best to work with the wet conditions on the runway, hitting a stronger mark with each attempt in the men's triple jump. Doing so, he finished in the top 20 with a 17th place showing.
 
Closing out the field events for the Pioneers, Powers hit her best mark of the day in the javelin throw on her first attempt. The mark was strong enough to place as 17th overall.
 
Hitting the track, Jones was the first up for the Pioneers, running the 110-meter hurdles. He got out to a good start in an event that sent a wall of athletes over each hurdle simultaneously through most of the race. Unfortunately, he took a tumble in the middle of the race that took him out of title contention. However, he finished the race anyway to lay claim to All-America status in 8th place.
 
Mongwe was next as she took on the top athletes in the NAIA in the women's 400-meter dash. Getting out strong she powered through the first section of the race and cruised down the backstretch, climbing quickly to the top of the heap. As she accelerated through the final curve, she caught the lead competitor and then pulled away down the homestretch. Her strength proved to be too much for her opponents as she took the NAIA Track and Field Championship title in the 400-meter dash.
 
Farmer-Cole was up next, also running the 400-meter dash. He got out quickly, but the hamstring which had been bothering him in the last weeks flared up as he worked through the first curve. He slowed down considerably but still fought to the finish line to take 8th place and lay claim to All-America status.
 
The final event of the day for the Pioneers placed Mongwe in the women's 200-meter dash to fight for another All-America claim. Setting up for the blocks, she looked a little stiff, perhaps still feeling the effects of the 400-meter dash. Regardless, Mongwe was determined to see the race through. At the gun, she got out and was competitive through the initial curve, but her body was done. She finished in 8th place to get her second All-America title for the day.
 
The Pioneers finished with one National Individual Championship title, five All-America titles, two school records, and two personal bests. As a team, the women finished 28th of 84, while the men finished 37th of 80 teams which had qualifying athletes.