Grizzlies place five at NJCAA Indoor Track & Field National Meet; take 8th place in the meet

The indoor season that was once not going to happen has finally come to a finish and ended with a bang for both the men's and women's Indoor Track & Field teams as the Grizzlies placed eight inside the top eight and finish 8^th place on the women's side and 10^th on the men's side at the NJCAA Indoor Nationals hosted by Pittsburg State University.

"After a sub-par performance on Friday, the message on Saturday was redemption and the team answered", said head coach Dustin Mettler. "I am very proud with the team and how they handled all the adversity this season. We overcame so much and to have some of the performances we did at the national level is amazing."

The highlight of the meet came in the form of a National Champion in Dakari Carter. Carter ran a 20.95 in the men's 200 meter dash claiming first place and a national title. Carter also finished runner-up in the 60 meter dash running a 6.72. 

Kaleb McDonald was runner-up in the women's 400 meter running a 55.24. Linesha Thompson took third place in the women's 60 meter dash with a 7.45. 

The Women's 4x400 meter relay team of Kiara Brown, Zadie St. Louis, Kaleb McDonald, Linesha Thompson also finished runner-up in the championship with a time of 3:45.87

Butler Performances at the NJCAA Indoor National Meet:

Butler Women:

Long Jump

Destiny Castillo, 4^th, 5.93m

60 meter hurdles

Jennifer Godfrey, 9^th 9.10

60 meter Dash

Linesha Thompson, 3^rd, 7.45

Toshel Goffe, 10^th, 7.55

Destiny Castillo, 11^th, 7.57

400 meter Dash

Kaleb McDonald, 2^nd, 55.24

Linesha Thompson, 4^th, 56.31

800 meter Run

Zadie St. Louis, 13^th, 2:27.83

200 meter Dash

Kaleb McDonald 9^th, 24.90

Kiara Brown, 11^th, 24.83

Toshel Goffe, 17^th, 25.35

4x400 meter relay 

2^{nd,  3:45.87}

Kiara Brown, Zadie St. Louis, Kaleb McDonald, Linesha Thompson

Butler Men:

60 meter Hurdles

Brandon Smith, 9^th, 8.31

David Niang, 16^th, 8.58

600 meter Run

Tarik Xavier, 13^th, 1:24.00

60 meter Dash

Dakari Carter, 2^nd, 6.72

Caleb Jackson, 11^th, 6.80

Jerod Elcock, 16^th, 6.88

400 meter Run

Judah Taylor, 17^th, 49.33

800 meter Run

Tarik Xavier, 22^nd, 2:03.84

200 meter run

Dakari Carter, 1^st, 20.95

Jeremy McDowell, 18^th, 21.96

4x400 Meter Relay

5^th, 3:13.30

Dakari Carter, Jerod Elcock, Caleb Jackson, Judah Taylor

The Grizzlies will start training for the 2021 outdoor season, a season they didn't get the chance to compete in a year ago.

"We are just going to carry this momentum from the indoor season right into the outdoor season," commented Mettler. "We didn't get to run outdoor last year, and we have some students who are hungry to get out on the track and compete. We can't wait to get our entire squad together outside to compete."

NJCAA INDOOR TRACK & FIELD NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP - FINAL RESULTS