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JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. - The Embry-Riddle track and field team will bring a national champion and six All-Americans back to Daytona Beach from Johnson City, Tenn. and the 2008 NAIA Indoor Track and Field Championships.
Beth McCubbin, a junior from Palm Harbor, Fla., raced to a first-place finish in the 1,000m during Saturday's finals. McCubbin finished the race in 2:54.287, over two seconds faster than her closest competitor. Along with her title as national champion, McCubbin marks her third-straight title as All-American as she earned All-American status at indoor nationals in both 2006 and 2007. McCubbin finished first in her semifinal heat with a time of 2:59.01 and entered the finals as the No. 2 seed.
Howard Walls notched his second All-American status with his third-place finish in the 60m hurdles. Walls' time of 8.25 was less than two-tenths of a second slower than the winner, Lamar Baskin of Oklahoma Baptist. Chris Bethel of McKendree (Ill.) finished second. Walls entered the event as the sixth seed, but clocked in at 8.20 in the preliminaries, good for the second fastest time of the prelims. He advanced to the semifinals, winning his heat in a new school record of 8.15 seconds, earning him the second seed in Saturday's finals.
Nathalie Hildingsson earned All-American honors in her debut at nationals as the ERAU freshman finished third in the 400m with a time of 56.69. Hildingsson ran the event in 57.43 in Friday's semifinals and entered the finals on Saturday as the No. 5 seed. Hildingsson also competed in the 200m semifinals and recorded a time of 25.32. Hildingsson's times in the 400m and 200m are both ERAU school records.
The Eagles 4x800m relay team of McCubbin, Alex Salinas, Noelle Niblack and Lori Costello was dubbed All-American after its fifth-place finish. Embry-Riddle finished the event in 9:24.14 while the event was won by Wayland Baptist in 9:15.53. ERAU's ladies were able to complete the semifinals in 9:21.94, the second lowest time of the Thursday preliminaries and entered Friday's finals as the No. 3 seed.
Additionally on the first day of competition, Salinas, McCubbin and Costello teamed up with Hildingsson for the women's distance medley relay but were unable to advance with a time of 12:55.24. Hildingsson and McCubbin competed in a third event on Thursday - the women's 4x400m - and despite the efforts of the two ladies along with Jen Haydt and Jennifer Schaus, they did not advance after recording a time of 4:10.61.
Embry-Riddle also saw two men's relay squads race with entries in the 4x400m and DMR. Aaron Jett, Kevin Bray, Aaron Fuquay and Bryan Harper ran the 4x400m in 3:23.40 while Bray, Chris Chidgey, Horacio Maysonet and Russell Snyder finished the DMR in 10:29.19. Neither team was able to advance.
On Friday, Niblack, Alexis Williams, Nick Gehlsen and Stuart Patterson displayed their abilities on the national stage. Niblack participated in the 1,000m and finished in 3:04.38 while Williams competed in the 60m on behalf of ERAU and advanced to the semifinals. After running a school-record 7.74 in the preliminaries, Williams finished the semifinal heat in 7.76. Williams also competed in the long jump and leaped to 17-7(5.36m). Patterson and Gehlsen represented Embry-Riddle in the 5k and crossed the finish line in 15:53.53 and 16:17.86, respectively.
Andrea Freeze also competed on Saturday and recorded a distance of 34-8.25 in the triple jump.
Overall, the ERAU women finished 13th in the nation with 18 points, while the men finished tied for 30th with South Dakota Tech.
Embry-Riddle will open its outdoor track season next weekend, March 15, at home as the Eagles host the Spike's Classic beginning at 8 a.m.
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Courtesy: MELANIE PUGH staff photographer
