CEDARVILLE, Ohio.--- The Asbury track and field team competed in the National Christian College Atheltics Association (NCCAA) Indoor Track and Field National Championship on Friday and Saturday in Cedarville, Oh., taking 10th place of 18 teams on the women's side and 9th of 18 for the men's team.
The National Tournament performances for Asbury were highlighted by sophomore social work major
Bailey Gassmann coming from behind to take first place in the mile race, becoming the first ever Asbury track and field individual National Champion in any event. AU also earned five NCCAA All-American performances, including
Ambria Mack,
Mikayla Riccio,
Brihanna Basil,
Kallee Cooper, Gassmann, and
Brendan Funke.
Day One Recap
Both the men's and women's 4 x 200 m AU relay teams broke Asbury school records but were just out of point contribution in ninth place. The women's relay runners were
Ambria Mack,
Mikayla Riccio,
Brihanna Basil, and
Kallee Cooper. The men's relay consisted of
Austin Moreland,
Jacob Edmonds,
Both Mony, and
Caleb Payne.
Day one for the Eagles was powered by the women's distance, medley relay finishing third which earned All-American status.
Brooke O'Carroll let off a 1200 meter leg (3/4 mile) in 3:57.1, before handing the baton to
Paige Asher who ran her two laps (400 meters) in 1:08.3.
Adyson Mattingly covered 800 meters in 2:36.9 to set the stage for
Bailey Gassmann.
Bailey was in a distant, fourth place position needing to catch the anchor runner from Cedarville to earn All-American honors for herself and her teammates. She paced it perfectly, catching the competition in the final quarter mile. Bailey's time of 5:09.4 was the fastest mile she has ever run in her life. The Eagle ladies broke the Asbury school record by an amazing 40 seconds with their combined time of 12:51.8.
In addition to the medley relay record run, the team set new school records in the men's medley relay by
Drew Beedle,
Coleman Anderson,
Luke Holton, and
Wes Preston.
Caleb Payne broke his own school record in the 60 m dash and
Austin Moreland trimmed the 10th of a second off of his previous record in the 60 m hurdles.
Day Two Recap
Gassmann's National Championship featured the day two finishes for Asbury. Her time of 5:05.9 took over 10 seconds off of her previous school record set last year at this meet.
She ran the perfect race, settling into the middle of the pack for a couple of laps, then broke away with the top three other runners for a couple laps, and then sat on the heels of the eventual second place finisher (Christy Shank from Campbellsville) all the way until the final homeless stretch when she passed her up in the final sprint.
The other impact Asbury moment came from Brendan Funke, who added over a foot to his best shot put effort ever to finish third in his event and earned the All-American honor. Three times during the competition he improved upon his previous career best.
One of the more exciting races of the day was the men's 4 x 800 m relay where Asbury finished in fourth place just a few steps from that coveted third place position. Coleman Anderson, Drew, Beedle, Jojo Ernst, and Luke Holton battled the entire way with the top six teams, changing position throughout the race and incredibly close on every handoff. Asbury ended up with a new school record of 8:16.5.
AU freshman Manny Dut trimmed 6/10 of a second off of Luke Wheatley's school record in the 400 m dash with a time of 52.18 which was good for 10th place. Wes Preston improved his school record in the 3000 meter run by a scant 7/100th of a second
The men ended the day with a new school record in one of the most exciting events, the 4 x 400 meter relay. Austin Moreland, Jacob Edmonds, Luke Holton, and Manny Dut combined for a time of 3:32.1 and a fifth place finish in their event.
In addition to the mile and distance medley relay All-American medals, Bailey also finished fifth in the 800 m run and anchored the women's 4 x 400 meter relay to a sixth place finish. She was joined on that relay by Ambria Mack, Kallee Cooper, and Brooke O'Carroll as they marked a new school record of 4:19.3 in the event.
Day One Results
Day Two Results
Day One
The women came into the race with a plan and competed well against the other teams. Their determination shown through in each leg of the race. Brooke started off by gaining the team a great position, Paige and Adyson maintained the position, and Bailey passed another team for 3rd place. This is really great competition at the national meet and we were very pleased with the results.
Brooke Stickel | Asbury Assistant Track and Field Coach
Day Two
"Today was so much fun. We had our best performances of the indoor season and set many new school records. Even then, it was difficult to score because of the level of the competition being so high. Bailey's race in the mile was incredible as she became the first ever national champion for this young Asbury Track and Field program. Brendan was ranked seventh coming into the meet so we had hopes that he could score, but to have such a huge improvement and get third place was certainly more than either he or I had expected. At our team devotions this morning we talked about being content with whatever the results would bring. I think the team just gave it all to God and went out to work hard and have fun."
Randy Crist | Asbury Head Track and Field Coach
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