Welch Wins National Championship in Weight Throw
The University of Findlay indoor track and field teams sent athletes on a 470 mile journey to Winston-Salem, North Carolina to the 2014 NCAA Division II Indoor Track National Championship for the two-day competition that began on Friday, March 14th and will continue tomorrow, Saturday the 15th.
The Oilers were headlined by the performance of junior Justin Welch who took home the National Championship in the men's weight throw. Welch, who has performed exceptionally all year, earned the All-American victory with a throw that measured 73'0.75 ft., almost 2.5 ft. further than the competitor who took second. This throw marks Welch's new personal best, is a new Findlay indoor record, and is also a new JDL Fast Track facility record.
Another stellar performance was turned in by the men's distance medley relay team. The group of junior Jacob Hayes, sophomore Kyle Smithey, junior Dillon Webster, and senior Justin Eilerman came into the race seeded 11th of 12 with their personal best time of 10:01.54, also a school record. That time was shattered as the group received an incredible start from Hayes, who gave the Oilers the lead after his leg of the race. Smithey ran a solid 400 meters and the same held true for Webster's 800. In the mile leg, Eilerman ran a 4:10.96, his fastest split of the year and the fastest mile in Findlay indoor history. The group would hold on become All-Americans with a fourth place finish, ending the race with a time of 9:56.99.
Webster was also busy in the men's 800 meter run preliminaries. His time of 1:51.15 was the fastest qualifying mark of the day, seeding him first in the finals which will be held tomorrow at 5:00pm.
Also competing on the first day of competition for the Oilers was freshman Alexander Zolotoglavy. He took on a talented field in the men's long jump and ended with a 15th place finish with a jump that measured 22'11.75.
Findlay athletes that will be competing tomorrow include the following:
Demorrio Leggett will enter the national championship as the seventh seed in the triple jump with a mark of 15.05 meters. This event will take place at 2:00pm.
Marcus Vicars will be competing in the shot put, where he is ranked 12th with a toss of 17.21 meters. The shot put will happen at 2:05pm.
On the women's side, Kendra Averesch will be competing in the shot put set to begin at 4:40pm.
The women's 4x400 team of Adrianna Powell-Lawrence, who was recently named the GLIAC Freshman of the Year, Kirsten Gaerke, Shelby Stump and Maud Sanmiquel will run at 7:00pm in heat 1.
Lastly, Pam Showman will be competing in the pentathlon set to begin at 9:00am with the 60 meter hurdles.
Watch all the action via LIVE STREAMING on the NCAA.com.