National Champs! Men Win Track and Field Crown in Minnesota

Friday, March 9

Mankato, MN

Grand Canyon

NCAA Division II Indoor National Championship

The men's team celebrates their National Championship in Minnesota.

National Champs! Men Win Track and Field Crown in Minnesota

3/10/2012 5:31:00 PM | Track and Field, Women's Track and Field

The Grand Canyon University men's track and field squad claimed the 2012 Division II Indoor Track and Field National Championship with a final team score of 54 points. The National Championship is the second for GCU athletics since joining NCAA Division II in 1990, as the men's soccer program won the title in 1996 after defeating Oakland University 3-1 at GCU.

The GCU track and field program won the championship in just its second year of existence.

Adams State finished second with 47 points.

Overall, the 'Lopes won All-American honors in 18 events (top-eight finishers in each event, except top-four in relay events). Those who were named All-Americans for the 'Lopes are: Karlin Stewart (long jump), Ramon Cooper (long jump and triple jump), AAron Hill (long jump), Kevin Lashley (long jump and triple jump), Vince Frawley (pole vault), Dominique Hubert (60-meters), Tyler Sipes (60-meter hurdles), Shavine Hodges (60-meters, 200-meters and 4x400-meter relay), Amber Yingling (triple jump), Ann-Marie Duffus (long jump), Petra Fanty (4x400-meter relay) and Lilian Martinez (4x400-meter relay).

"It is an honor to bring GCU a second national title," said head coach Tom Flood. "It truly was an overall team effort. I am very proud and happy for the guys, this is a true reflection of their hard work."

The men's team had 25 points following yesterday events after sweeping the top two spots and taking four of the top six spots in the men's long jump finals.

The men competed in finals for the triple jump, pole vault, 60-meter dash and 60-meter hurdles today.

Dominique Hubert won an individual National Championship after running the 60-meter dash in a personal-best 6.65 seconds. He joins Karlin Stewart as the second 'Lopes athlete to win an individual title after Stewart did so in the long jump yesterday.

GCU had two of the top three finishers and three of the top 10 overall in the men's triple jump competition today.

Kevin Lashley took second place with a mark of 15.13 meters (49 feet, seven and three-fourths inches). Ramon Cooper finished just behind him with a leap of 15.07 meters (49 feet, five and a half inches) to take third place.

Stewart jumped 14.51 meters (47 feet, seven and one-fourths inches) to take ninth place in the triple jump competition.

"Dominique's win was huge because he came in ranked second and ran a very good race," said Flood. Kevin stepped up big in triple jump. He was actually leading until the second to last jump. I was very impressed with competitive spirit of Ramon. He came in a little dinged up and was able to take second in the long jump and third in the triple jump."

In the men's pole vault, Vince Frawley took seventh place with a mark of 4.90 meters (16 feet, three-fourths inches) and Eric Frawley finished in ninth place with a leap of 4.70 meters (15 feet, five inches).

Tyler Sipes finished sixth in the men's 60-meter hurdles with a time of 8.01 seconds.

"We fell behind in a few events, but others stepped up in their place," Flood said. "The 60-meter hurdles is one of most difficult events. Tyler got off to a bad start and threw off his timing. His sheer athleticism got him across the finish line to save some points."

The women finished in sixth place with a total score of 32 points. Grand Valley State won the title on the women's side with 94 points.

GCU had eight points following yesterday's competition.

The women competed in finals in the 60-meter dash, 200-meter dash, 400-meter dash, long jump, triple jump and 4x400-meter relay today.

Shavine Hodges took second place in the women's 60-meter dash and the women's 200-meter dash with marks of 7.42 seconds and 24.14 seconds, respectively. She had placed third in the 60-meters and fourth in the 200-meters at last year's championships.

"Shavine had a very, very good meet," Flood added. "She finished runner-up in both sprint events, which was quite impressive."

In the women's triple jump event, Amber Yingling placed eighth with a mark of 12.03 meters (39 feet, five and three-fourths inches) and Jessica Yates took 11^th with a leap of 11.87 meters (38 feet, 11 and a half inches).

Amber reached All-American status which was exciting for her," said Flood. "Looking forward with the girls, we are a young team and will have everyone coming back."

GCU's 4x400-meter relay squad of Petra Fanty, Lilian Martinez and Hodges finished fourth with at time of 3:48.79.

Men's final results.