South Plains and Central Arizona throw down in DMR

We started off the day with some stellar DMR performances including an upset win from the South Plains women who had a huge season’s best mark of 12:17, which ended up winning the meet despite being in the slower of the two heats. The team of Kassidi Jones, Domonique Williams, Chrisann Gordon, and Victoria Salvadores shut down runner-up and favorites Iowa Central who won heat two with a time of 12:35, unable to overtake South Plains for the NJCAA title. 
 

In the men’s distance medley relay we saw Central Arizona take the NJCAA title with an all-star team of Josh Thompson, Steven Cooper, Randy Chavez, and Apolinar Baltazar who out-kicked Butler CC for the win in heat two with a winning time of 10:09. Central Arizona came in with the fastest entry time (9:59) and delivered today while Butler CC improved upon their entry mark by four seconds. 

 

Lydia Mato and Harry Mulenga rack up victories in 5k and 3k

In a very tactical race, Barton County’s Lydia Mato secured the victory in a comfortable 17:52 for a 21-second victory over the rest of the field. After winning the 5k at the 2014 NJCAA Outdoor Championships, Mato returned to prove that she is indeed a force to be reckoned with in the 5k distance. At the same meet, Mato also won the 10k. Iowa Central teammates Viola Kebenei (18:13) and Kim Carter (18:36) each rounded out the second and third-place finishes, respectively. 

 

In the men’s race, Harry Mulenga racked up more points for the Central Arizona squad with a dominating win in 14:57 over runner-up Antibahs Kibiwott Kosgey of South Plains who crossed the line in 15:01. The 5k was the first of many races this weekend for the 4:04-miler as he plans on returning for the mile tomorrow. Chris Speaks of Colby CC finished in 15:11 for a third-place finish overall. 

Mato, the Barton County phenom returned to take another solid victory later in the women's 3k with a win in 10:10, 17 seconds ahead of runner-up Iowa Central's Viola Kebenei. All smiles heading into the final stretches of the race, Mato cruised to victory once again in front of a raucous crowd.

As if that wasn't enough, Mato returned for a third time to win her heat of the women's 1000m to earn her spot in the final on Saturday, just 20 minutes after her 3k win. She will be competing in both the 1000m and the mile on Saturday. 

South Plains' Victoria Salvadores returned after anchoring the championship DMR squad to earn a third-place finish overall in a time of 10:41. 

Malenga also pulled off another tough double with a victory in the men's 3k, out-kicking Robert Murphy for the win in a time of 8:36. Malenga is scheduled to return for more action tomorrow in the men's mile. Antibahs Kibiwott also returned after finishing runner-up in the 5k earlier to complete the double with a third-place finish in the 3k to round out the top three finishers. 

 

Magaly Tshipopo earns personal best in pentathlon

In a huge personal best performance, Magaly Tshipopo of Central Arizona took the win in the women’s pentathlon competition with a whopping 3709 points over runner-up Gleneve Grange who scored 3531. Tshipopo’s performance was over 300 points more than her previous personal best point mark prior to the championships. 

Qualifiers out of preliminary rounds:

Women's 60m hurdles
Men's 60m hurdles
Women's 60m
Men's 60m
Women's 600m
Men's 600m
Women's 400m
Men's 400m
Women's 800m
Men's 800m
Women's 200m
Men's 200m
Women's 1000m
Men's 1000m

Day 2 of the NJCAA Indoor Championships will begin tomorrow LIVE beginning at 12:00 p.m. MT.