Cumberlands (Ky.) earns first NAIA Men’s Indoor Track & Field Championship Red Banner

BROOKINGS, S.D. – Cumberlands (Ky.) led from start to finish to claim their first NAIA Men’s Indoor Track & Field National Championship Red Banner Saturday at Sanford-Jackrabbit Athletic Complex. The Patriots took advantage of scoring at least 10 points in their long-distance running events to win the national title (1000 meters, 1 mile, 3000 meters, and 3000 meter racewalk).

The 59^th annual running of the NAIA Indoor Track & Field Championship was hosted by Dakota State (S.D.).

It marked the third consecutive year a team captured its first national men’s team title (Oklahoma City in 2022 and Southeastern (Fla.) in 2023).

Cumberlands scored 80 points to win the national title, the most points scored since 2020 when William Carey (Miss.) scored 82 points. It was the widest margin of victory for the Patriots since the 2017 national meet (Indiana Tech – 61 points margin of victory).

Dordt (Iowa) edged Marian (Ind.) to claim the runner-up honor by a half-point. After the final event, the Defenders scored 41 points and leaped over the Knights (40.5 points). It is the second time in the last four years that Dordt has claimed the team’s runner-up honor.

William Carey was fourth with 38 points, followed by Texas Wesleyan in fifth with 28 points. Midland (Neb.) was sixth, while the defending champion Southeastern (Fla.) was seventh with 25 points. Concordia (Neb.) was eighth after scoring 24.5 points. Dakota State and Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) was tied for ninth with 21 points each to round the NAIA’s Top 10 men’s team standings.

There were a total of three new NAIA Championship records broken on Saturday.

• Cumberlands (Ky.) maintained their lead in the team standings as they kicked off the final day by winning the 1 mile race. Freshman Luca Santorum won the national title in 4:6.86 and improved from his previous time of 4:19.58 in the semifinal Friday.
• Santorum became the first Patriot to win the 1 mile national title in school history.
• Tajean Houston became the first Texas Wesleyan athlete to win the national title in the 60 meter hurdles. He edged Javon Sanders of Indiana Tech (7.91 seconds) by .03 seconds to win the title in 7.88 seconds.
• Texas Wesleyan added another national title in the ensuing event as Tyrece Grant won the 400 meter dash with a personal record time of 46.70 seconds. Joseph Taylor of Southeastern (Fla.), the 2023 400 meter dash national title winner, finished fifth in 47.36 seconds.
• The first NAIA national meet record on Saturday occurred in the 600 meter run where senior Payton Mauldin of Dordt (Iowa) won the title. He ran a time of 1:15.84, breaking the previous national meet record of 1:16.12 by Dylan Felger of Huntington (Ind.) in 2022.
• William Carey captured the top two times in the 60 meter dash final, paced by freshman Barnabas Aggerh with a personal record of 6.63 seconds. His teammate Derrick Harbin followed up with a time of 6.69 seconds.
• Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) won the 800 meter run title for the second time in the last three seasons (Clayton VanDyke in 2022).  Carter Gordon (1:51.00) edged Forbes Joel of Cumberland (1:51.32) by .32 seconds to win the national title.
• The top seven place finishers in the 800 meter run final produced personal or season best times.
• Santorum of Cumberlands earned his second NAIA national title after he won the 1000 meters in the national meet record fashion. He posted a time of 2:22.70 and broke an 18-year-old national meet record by Julius Rono from Roberts Wesleyan (N.Y.) in 2006.
• The Patriots extended their lead by 17 points over Dordt after the 1000 meter run event.
• Mount Marty (S.D.) produced its second national individual champion during the three-day meet. Freshman Edwin Nyamutswa won the 200 meter dash with a personal record time of 21.04 seconds, defeating freshman Joseph Randolph of Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) by .03 seconds (21.07 seconds). Vincent Giuliano of ONU was third in 21.21 seconds.
• Deveyon Blacknell of Madonna (Mich.), 2023 national champion in the 200 meter dash, finished fourth with a season-best 21.22 seconds.
• Seth Alexander of Xavier (La.) produced the first male individual national champion in the triple jump as he leaped 15.42 meters (50 feet, 7.25 inches). His teammate Blake Harris was third with 14.98 meters (49 feet, 1.75 inches). Joshua Morris of Texas Wesleyan was the runner-up with a personal record of 15.00 meters (49 feet, 2.5 inches).
• Concordia (Neb.) produced their first national champion in pole vault since 2003 (Jeb Meyers). Zach Zohner successfully cleared the height of 5.25 meters (17 feet, 2.75 inches) to win the national title. 
• Oklahoma City exploded for a new NAIA national meet record in the distance medley relay. The relay members of Brendan Robeaux, Kanyon Cobbs, Tate Smithhart, and Evert Silva posted a time of 9:47.06 seconds to win the national title (the first time since 2021 that the Stars won the DMR national title).
• The previous NAIA national meet record in the DMR was set in 2014 with a time of 9:47.60 by Southern Oregon.
• There was a new national shot-put national champion for the first time since 2019 (Dylan Kucera of Midland won the previous four national titles). Jacob Netral of Marian (Ind.) won the national title with a throw of 17.51 meters (57 feet, 5.5 inches). 
• Dordt closed the national meet by winning the 4x400 meter relay (Levi Schelhaas, Noah Schroder, Cole Zevenberger, and Payton Mauldin) in a season-best time of 3:10.89. It was the first time in school history that the Defenders captured the 4x400 meter relay title.
• The top six teams’ posted their season-best times in the 4x400 meter relay.

Post-Meet Awards
Men’s Outstanding Performer:  Payton Mauldin of Dordt (Iowa) – his record-breaking performance in the 600-meter run.

Men’s Most Valuable Performer:  Luca Santorum of Cumberlands (Ky.) – scored 22 points by winning the mile and the 1000 meters. He also contributed to a runner-up finish in the distance medley relay.

Men’s Coach of the Year:  Bradley Sowder – Cumberlands (Ky.)