COLUMBIA, S.C.--- Asbury men's track and field freshman pre-nursing major Manny Dut earned National Champion honors on Friday in Columbia, S.C., at the National Christian College Athletics Association (NCCAA) Outdoor Track and Field National Championships. The Eagles' men's team finished 17th overall out of 26 teams while the women took 19th of 25 teams.
The NCCAA National Championship was a three-day event, beginning on Wednesday and concluding on Friday late afternoon. On Tuesday evening, all competing teams participated in a Christian service project and then joined for a worship service together.
Malone University took the championship on the men's side, while Greenville University took first place in the women's meet.
The highlight of the week for Asbury was freshman sensation Manny Dut winning the national championship in the 400 m dash. Dut was ranked only ninth going into the competition, but ran a new personal best and school record of 48.56 seconds to win by a couple tenths of a second.
Manny became the first Asbury student-athlete to ever win a NCCAA National Championship in Outdoor Track and Field competition, following
Bailey Gassmann winning the Indoor Mile National Championship earlier this season.
- Junior media communication major Brendan Funke threw 14.47 in the shotput. It was one of his better throws of the season and earned him a fifth place finish.
- Freshman biology major Mikayla Riccio high jumped 1.52 m for fourth place.
- During 200 m dash preliminaries on Thursday, Dut set a new Asbury school record of 22.15 seconds.
- The Asbury women's 4 x 800 m relay team finished in eighth place with Brooke O'Carroll, Ava Miller, Adyson Mattingly, and Bailey Gassmann combining for a new school record of 10:13.8, taking three seconds off of the previous record which had been set 23 years ago in 2002.
- The AU women's 4 x 100 m relay team consisting of Caroline Preston, Kallee Cooper, Mikayla Riccio, and Maggie Higdon finished in seventh place with a time of 52.45 seconds, trimming a 10th of a second off of the school record they set at the Collegiate Conference of the South (CCS) Championship meet.
- Running in his final career track and field meet, senior Cameron Tapp ran a new personal best time of 4:13 for 1500 meters.
- Ava Miller, also running in her final track meet, likewise set a new personal best running the 1500 in 5:11.8.
- Asbury women's soccer and women's track and field dual student-athlete, Maggie Higdon, had an incredible day with four school records. She ran 15.94 in the 100 meter hurdles, a record of 1:09.6 while finishing 8th in the 400 meter hurdles, and a leg on both the 4 x 100 and 4 x 400 relay teams that set new school marks.
- Asbury's women's 4x400 team consisting of Kallee Cooper, Caroline Preston, Maggie Higdon and Bailey Gassmann ran 4:12.4 which placed them seventh in the competition.
- The AU men's 4x400 relay also finished in seventh place. Coleman Anderson, Drew, Beedle, Luke Holton, and Manny Dut handled the baton for the Eagles.
"Manny's surprise National Championship in the 400 set off a wild team celebration. This group of athletes, both the men's and women's teams, are so close. It really was a win for all of us. I knew Manny was a special talent when we were recruiting him. I had no idea though what a great young man we were getting in terms of work ethic and team spirit. He is loved by everyone, and I think he has only scratched the surface of what he will accomplish in this sport."
Randy Crist | Head Track & Field Coach
Full Results Here
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