NJCAA Indoor Championships

Six Events to Watch at NJCAA Indoor Championships

Six Events to Watch at NJCAA Indoor Championships

Mar 5, 2015 by Taylor Dutch
Six Events to Watch at NJCAA Indoor Championships




For the first time ever, Flotrack is live streaming the NJCAA Indoor Championships in Albuquerque, New Mexico starting Friday, March 6 into Saturday, March 7. Here are six exciting events that you cannot miss this weekend:

Men’s 60m (Saturday 1:35 p.m. MT)
Odean Skeen, the sophomore from South Plains ran 6.64 (without altitude conversion) at the New Mexico Classic on Feb. 6, which leads the field of contenders. Skeen was a force to be reckoned with at the NJCAA Outdoor Championships last year after winning the 100m and helping his South Plains team to national titles in the 4x100m and 4x400m. In his native country of Jamaica, Skeen was a 100m World Junior Championships Bronze Medalist in 2012. He will have some competition with the Meridian CC duo of Chris Lewis (6.68) and Kendrick Smith (6.71) who both ran blazing fast times at the LSU Twilight meet. Those runners also have to look out for Kejavon Moore of Central Arizona who ran 6.71 at the Don Kirby Open. Interestingly enough, Skeen’s top time of 6.64 would have been .01 seconds from qualifying to the D1 NCAA Indoor Championships this year. 
 
Women’s 400m (Saturday 2:35 p.m. MT)
South Plains 400m powerhouse Domonique Williams (53.82), Diamond Gause (56.04), Medinah Spencer (56.11), and Brandi Dobbin (56.44) are currently the the No. 1, No. 3, No. 4, and No. 6 fastest times entered in the field, and will return to put together a crazy fast 4x400m. Williams is from Trinidad & Tobago and boasts a 52.95 outdoor personal best, which she ran last year. She also finished runner-up in the 400m at the 2014 NJCAA Outdoor Championships and helped her team to national titles in the 4x100m and 4x400m relay. Marissa Gale of Western Texas College will also be in the mix with the second fastest mark heading into the race after clocking a 56.01 at the Texas Tech Red Raider Open. Quadaisha Newkirk of New Mexico JC will also battle with the top competitors after running 56.40 at the Don Kirby Open. 
 
Men’s Mile (Saturday 2:20 p.m. MT)
Although the men’s mile field is not incredibly deep, there is one runner that stands out as a clear favorite. Harry Mulenga from Central Arizona ran a 4:04 mile at the Don Kirby Open on Feb. 13. The 21-year-old from Zambia holds personal bests of 1:50 in the 800m, 3:47 in the 1500m, and 13:58 in the 5k. At last year’s NJCAA Outdoor Championships, Mulenga captured national titles in the 1500m and 5k. He shouldn’t have many challengers with the closest seed time being Robert Murphy’s 4:09. 
 
Women’s 4x400m (Saturday 3:55 p.m. MT)
The South Plains 400m standouts will return to dominate the relay as the team looks to defend their NJCAA title from the 2014 Outdoor Championships. With four women under 56.50 on the squad, the South Plains team should put together another strong showing once again. Their season’s best mark of 3:35.77 run at the Tyson Invitational would have been just outside of qualifying for the D1 NCAA Championships this year. 
 
Men’s Long Jump (Friday 4:30 p.m. MT)
Travonn White from Central Arizona posted an impressive mark this season with a jump of 7.72m at the Puma Indoor & Multi meet, which also puts him on the outdoor world leader list in 2015. His mark is well above anyone else in the field, and would have easily qualified him for the D1 NCAA Championships this year. In fact, the mark would have put him 12th on the entry list! White also boasts a fourth-place finish in the long jump at the 2014 World Junior Championships, where he posted his personal best mark of 8.04m. Vincennes standout Isaiah Thomas’ No. 2 seeded mark of 7.68m would have nearly qualified him for the championships as well. 
 
Men’s Shot Put (Friday 5:15 p.m. MT)
The men’s shot put has a clear leader in Eldred Henry from Central Arizona who leads the field with a monster season’s best of 20.00m from the GCC Indoor Invitational two weeks ago. The mark would have put him No. 6 on the D1 NCAA Championships entries list this year. The British Virgin Islands native finished sixth in the shot put and won the discus at the 2014 NJCAA Outdoor Championships.