McNeill, Wallace, and Casey all erned All-American honors
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FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Senior David McNeill of Northern Arizona held off Liberty’s Sam Chelanga to claim the men’s 5,000-meter title in a Big Sky indoor record time of 13:36.41 Friday evening at the NCAA National Championships.
McNeill becomes the Lumberjacks’ 11th national champion in track and field and cross country, and the school’s first male to claim a 5K title. This is also McNeill’s seventh All-American honor.
McNeill came up just short of becoming the fourth male to double in the 3,000 and 5,000-meter runs in one weekend Saturday evening. McNeill finished runner-up behind Arkansas senior Dorian Ulrey of Arkansas who claimed the 3,000-meter national championship. He finished in a time of 8:10.96, just over four-tenths of a second behind Ulrey, to earn his 8th All-American award of his career.
Montana State’s Patrick Casay also collected All-American honors by finishing third in the mile. He finished behind riegning national champion Lee Emanuel of New Mexico and Oregon’s Mac Fleet with a time of 4:01.87. He became the first Bobcat man to earn All-America honors since Lyle Weese, now an MSU assistant, in 2003.
Lea Wallace became the first Sacramento State athlete to score at the NCAA Div. I Indoor Track and Field Championships as she placed eighth in the women’s 800 on Saturday. Wallace also became the first Hornet female to earn All-America honors indoors.
The junior entered the final with the fifth-fastest time in Friday’s opening heats but finished well off her season-best time, crossing the line in 2:13.97. Tennessee’s Phoebe Wright won the 800 title in a time of 2:02.55.
Friday afternoon’s men’s shot put preliminary and final featured fellow Lumberjack senior Javier Villarreal. He recorded a mark of 17.92m (58-9.5) to give him a 12th-place overall finish. It was the first indoor championship appearance in the senior’s career.
Senior Nicole Luckenbach of Eastern Washington finished 14th Friday in the weight throw at the NCAA Division I Championships.
Luckenbach had a mark of 60-6 3/4, which didn’t advance her into the finals in the field of 17 competitors. She is the first Eastern female to compete at the NCAA Championships indoors since 1995 when Joyce Rainwater competed in the 55 meters.
Idaho State’s Mike Arnold finished in 13th place at the championships. The sophomore cleared a height of 16-10.75, but was unable to advance past the second height of 17-2.75.
Junior Renisha Robinson ran the 800m in 2:08.71 to place fifth in her heat and 16th overall. Fellow Hornet Ronald Brookins shattered his own school record in the 60-hurdles with a time of 7.84 seconds. However, the junior just missed advancing to the finals as he was .04 seconds off the last qualifying time.