Longhorns secure DMR crown, along with runner-up efforts from Jones, Piperi and 4x400 relay to capture team title; Cunningham and Ross produce all-time marks, Washington repeats in shot put, Nur achieves distance double, with Colantonio and Owens delivering emotional victories

By Erik Boal, DyeStat Editor

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The meet began with an inspiring victory from Alabama cancer survivor Bobby Colantonio.

It concluded with a fitting tribute from the Texas A&M men’s 4x400-meter relay, just two months after the tragic death of former star athlete and assistant coach Deon Lendore.

And, in between, there was a thrilling comeback by Arkansas’ Ayden Owens in the heptathlon, a historic hurdling effort from Florida State’s Trey Cunningham, an exceptional sprint showcase from North Carolina A&T’s Randolph Ross and a determined distance double from Northern Arizona’s Abdihamid Nur.

But despite not winning an individual event and having their biggest highlight come Friday with a distance medley relay title, it was the members of the Texas men’s team standing on the infield Saturday at the CrossPlex celebrating their first title at the NCAA Division 1 Indoor Championships.

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The Longhorns prevailed with 47 points, followed by North Carolina A&T with 36 points, Tennessee accumulating 31 points and Northern Arizona earning its first podium finish in program history by placing fourth with 29 points.

Cruz Gomez, Willington Wright, Crayton Carrozza and Yaseen Abdalla clocked 9 minutes, 25.20 seconds for Texas, which entered the meet seeded 10th in the DMR out of 12 teams.

The Longhorns clinched the title with a runner-up finish in the 4x400 relay, as Jonathan Jones, Jon Maas, Brian Herron and Wright clocked 3:04.55, trailing Texas A&M’s Chevannie Hanson, Omajuwa Etiwe, Brandon Miller and Emmanuel Bamidele at 3:04.16.

Jones placed second in the 800 in 1:47.93 and Yusuf Bizimana finished fourth in 1:48.09, with Carrozza adding a seventh-place effort in the mile in 4:08.03.

Adrian Piperi secured second in the shot put with a mark of 70-9.75 (21.58m) and Leo Neugebauer took third in the heptathlon with 6,148 points to round out the Longhorns’ scoring production.

North Carolina A&T enjoyed its best finish in program history, highlighted by Ross running 44.62, the third-fastest indoor 400 in history, and Javonte Harding capturing the 200 title in 20.46.

Tennessee received a 1-2 finish in the long jump with Wayne Pinnock producing a leap of 26 feet (7.92m) and Carey McLeod adding a 25-11.50 (7.91m) effort, along with Favour Ashe taking third in the 60-meter dash in 6.55.

Nur followed an impressive list of distance runners to win the 3,000 and 5,000 in the past 15 years, including Wisconsin’s Morgan McDonald, Oregon’s Edward Cheserek, Eric Jenkins and Galen Rupp, along with Arizona’s Lawi Lalang.

Nur won the 3,000 in 7:59.88 and triumphed in the 5,000 in 13:19.01, and was supported by Nico Young taking third in the 5,000 in 13:21.23 and seventh in the 3,000 (8:00.83), in addition to Drew Bosley earning eighth in the 5,000 (13:29.69), as the Lumberjacks added another memorable achievement to its distance legacy by making the team podium with only three athletes.

Cunningham, who grew up an hour away from the CrossPlex in Winfield, Ala., produced the second-fastest 60 hurdles performance in collegiate indoor history by clocking 7.38, equaling the No. 8 all-time American competitor and the No. 11 performer globally.

Colantonio, representing the Crimson Tide, secured the program’s first title in any men’s event in eight years by prevailing in the weight throw with a final-round mark of 77-5.25 (23.60m), overcome with emotion before even making his final attempt after recovering from being diagnosed with stage four bone cancer in 2016.

Despite being in fourth place entering the final event and trailing Georgia’s Kyle Garland by 152 points, Owens ran a lifetime-best 2:31.55 in the 1,000 to rally for the heptathlon title with 6,211 points.

Owens became the second-fastest 1,000 performer in collegiate history behind only Duke’s Curtis Beach (2:23.63), surpassing Garland after he ran 2:46.07 to finish with 6,200 points. The championship was the first for an Arkansas heptathlete since Kevin Lazas in 2013.

Arizona State’s Turner Washington and Oregon’s Emmanuel Ihemeje were both repeat champions.

Washington prevailed in the shot put with a mark of 71-0.50 (21.65m), helping Arizona State become the first program since UCLA in 1996 to sweep both titles, along with Jorinde van Klinken capturing the women’s crown at 62-7.25 (19.08m).

Washington followed Colorado State’s Mostafa Hassan (2017-18) in securing back-to-back titles, joining fellow Sun Devils Ryan Whiting (2008-10) and Jordan Clarke (2012-13) in repeating as champion. 

Ihemeje triumphed again in the triple jump with a 55-2.75 (16.83m) effort, becoming the first defending champion to prevail again since Arkansas’ Clive Pullen in 2016-17.

Princeton’s Sondre Guttormsen prevailed in the pole vault with an 18-10.25 (5.75m) clearance, the first men’s title for the Tigers in any event since 2013. Simen Guttormsen finished fourth at 18-4.50 (5.60m), helping Princeton join UCLA, USC, Kansas and Arkansas in having a pair of athletes placing in the top four in the pole vault in the same year, contributing to the Tigers tying Texas A&M for fifth place with 26 points.

Oklahoma’s Vernon Turner soared to the first high jump title for Oklahoma, elevating himself in a back-and-forth battle with Corvell Todd from Southern Mississippi to clear 7-7.25 (2.32m). Todd took second by clearing 7-6 (2.29m).

Miller won a pair of events, capturing the first men’s 800 crown in Texas A&M history by clocking 1:47.03.

USC’s Davonte Burnett emerged victorious during the 60-meter dash final that was run twice because of a malfunction in the starting blocks, producing a personal-best 6.50.

Mario Garcia Romo also contributed the first men’s mile title for Ole Miss, winning a tactical final in 4:07.54.