ASHEVILLE, N.C. – The University of the Cumberlands men's track & field team opened competition Wednesday at the NAIA Outdoor Track & Field National Championships with strong performances on the track and in the decathlon, advancing multiple athletes and relays to the next round.
The Patriots were led by
Willy Mabena in the 200-meter prelims, where he automatically qualified for the finals after running a personal-best 20.77 to win his heat.
Cumberlands also advanced both relays contested on day one. In the 4x100-meter prelims,
Jordan Afolayan,
Willy Mabena, Edwin Van Wyk, and
Aarontae Wesley combined to run 39.81 to qualify for the finals with the second-fastest preliminary time.
The 4x800-meter relay of
Caden Cull,
Hugo Massa,
Hauke Trost, and
Max Young also secured a spot in the finals after posting a time of 7:28.90. They advance to the finals tomorrow at 6:30 PM ET.
In the 1500-meter prelims,
Ishak Mekideche advanced to the national final after winning his heat in 3:53.31.
Niklas Scherb also moved on to the championship race after running 3:54.27 to qualify on time.
Ryan Ehrler added a time of 3:59.66.
In the decathlon,
Seth Massie sits fifth overall through five events with 3,686 points. Massie opened the day with times of 11.18 in the 100 meters and 50.46 in the 400 meters, while also posting marks of 7.02 meters in the long jump, 10.73 meters in the shot put, and 1.91 meters in the high jump. His long jump mark led the field through day one.
Mark Lawin is currently sixth overall with 3,670 points. Lawin recorded times of 11.15 in the 100 meters and 52.46 in the 400 meters, while also posting marks of 6.68 meters in the long jump, 14.44 meters in the shot put, and 1.82 meters in the high jump. His throw in the shot put led the field on day one.
The meet was postponed due to weather before the steeplechase and the 10K were able to start.
Cuauhtemoc Fitiao will now run the 3K steeple at 1:15 pm tomorrow with the 10K finals scheduled for 7:35 PM ET tomorrow evening.
Competition at the NAIA Outdoor National Championships continues tomorrow with the decathlon at 11 AM ET. Follow along with live results available
here, and live video
here.
For the latest and most up-to-date information on University of the Cumberlands Athletics please visit www.cumberlandspatriots.com. Follow us on X - @UC_Patriots and @UCPatsGameday, Instagram- @UCPatriots, TikTok- @ucpatriots, YouTube- Cumberlands Patriots, and Facebook by searching University of the Cumberlands Athletics.
