What a week in Asheville. Both of our track & field teams left it all out on Karl Straus Track, and when the dust settled, the men were national champions and the women had the best outdoor finish in program history. I’m still buzzing about it, so let me walk you through how it all went down.

The Men Are National Champions

Let’s start with the headline: the Cumberlands men captured the NAIA Outdoor National Championship on Friday. That’s the second outdoor national title in program history and our third red banner ever. The guys racked up 25 All-America honors, three individual national champions, and a relay title on their way to 79 points — a new program outdoor record.

Coach Bradley Sowder picked up NAIA Outdoor Coach of the Year, the fourth national coaching honor of his career, and the way he put it afterward says everything about this group: the guys were hungry, focused, and took care of the little things that win meets. He talked about wanting Cumberlands to become the standard for excellence — and after a day like Friday, it’s hard to argue.

The day got off to a historic start in the 4x100. Jordan Afolayan, Willy Mabena, Edwin Van Wyk, and Aarontae Wesley took the national title in a school-record 39.57 — the first 4x100 national championship we’ve ever had. From there it just kept rolling:

  • Tavon Davis became the first 400-meter national champion in program history, winning in 45.88.
  • Willy Mabena doubled back to take runner-up in the 200 with a personal-best 20.63.
  • Niklas Scherb came in ranked 17th in the 1500 and ran his way to fourth (3:59.82), while Ishak Mekideche grabbed All-America in seventh (4:00.25).
  • Mekideche then went and earned a second All-American nod in the 5000 (seventh, 14:39.68), with Luca Madeo right behind him (14:42.78).
  • The 4x400 of Roy Miller, Jermaine Thompson, Tavon Davis, and Zion Pruitt closed it out in sixth (3:12.34).

And then there’s Luca Madeo, who turned in the kind of performance that becomes program legend. His win in the 10,000 meters wasn’t just another title — it was his fourth straight national championship in the event. Four years, four crowns. That’s the sort of consistency you build a program’s reputation on.

Our multi-event guys deserve a shout too. In the decathlon, Seth Massie topped the field in the long jump and the javelin throw, while Mark Lawin took the shot put and the discus — four individual event wins between them across the grind of a two-day decathlon.

Add in the national titles from Madeo (10,000m), Lucien Beardsley (5,000m race walk), Tavon Davis (400m), and that 4x100 squad, and you’ve got a championship effort from start to finish. Indiana Tech (49.2) and St. Thomas, FL (49) rounded out the top three, but this one belonged to the Patriots.

The Women Make History Too

Not to be outdone, the Cumberlands women closed out the championships as national runner-up — the highest outdoor finish this program has ever had. They finished with 11 All-America honors, a national champion, and three runner-up finishes.

The women opened their final day in the 4x100, where Lillian Guzman, Ritorion Vigne, Abia Kante, and MaQuoia Raglin took third nationally in 45.54. Kante was everywhere this week — she added a fifth-place All-America finish in the 200 (24.20) to go with her marks in the long jump and that relay, giving her three All-America honors at the meet.

Then there’s Alina Boshchuk, who just keeps writing her name in the record book. She grabbed national runner-up in the 5000 (17:16.20), with Patrober Jepchirchir taking sixth (17:25.10) for an All-America finish of her own. That 5000 was Boshchuk’s ninth career T&F All-America honor, tying Kante for the most in program history — and counting cross country, she leaves Cumberlands with 11 total, more than any athlete the women’s program has ever produced. She also took runner-up in the 10,000 earlier in the week. What a career.

And we can’t forget Heather Durrant, who won the 5,000-meter racewalk national championship to become just the second individual outdoor national champion in program history.

British Columbia took the team title with 101.5 points, but the Patriots’ 52 was good enough for second, ahead of Dickinson State (40) and IU Kokomo (30).

The Bottom Line

Two teams, one weekend, and a whole lot of new banners and personal bests. The men are national champions, the women turned in the best outdoor finish they’ve ever had, and the program keeps trending in one direction — up. Couldn’t be prouder of this group. On to next season.

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