MARION, Ind.—Goodness Iredia claims first individual national championship of the 2023 NAIA Outdoor Track & Field National Championships. Daveina Watson garnered All-American honors while Praise Idamadudu, Doris Mensah, and Joel Forbes qualify for finals events tomorrow.
Iredia claimed the track and field program’s fifth NAIA National title and second of the season after Jason Bowers won one during the Indoor season. Iredia set the bar high on his first jump of the event hitting 7.63 meters. He jumped throughout the semifinals round, but passed on all his attempts in the finals as no one bested his mark to win the title. He also earned All-American honors with the victory.
Watson claimed the first All-American honor of the day for Cumberland. She finished sixth in the shot put for the second-year in a row. She tossed a throw of 14.05m to give the women’s team three points.
Mensah qualified for the women’s 100m hurdles finals scheduled for tomorrow at 1:20 p.m. She has a good chance for to earn All-American honors tomorrow as nine have qualified and Top 8 garner the accolade. Mensah had the seventh-best time at 13.90 seconds.
Forbes also qualified for the men’s 800m finals after posting the fourth-best time in the prelims at 1:52.21, just a second off the top qualifier. Forbes has locked up All-American honors and points for the team with a Top 8 finish at the finals tomorrow. He will run at 3:00 p.m. tomorrow.
Idamadudu continues to have a strong showing at the National Championships posting the top-mark in the women’s 400m. She ran a time of 53.71 seconds, nearly two seconds faster than the second place qualifier. Idamadudu will look to defend her title for last season tomorrow at 2:30 p.m.
Akpan Nsikak finished 24th in the men’s 100m dash with a time of 10.60 seconds.
Alana Mack and Blessing Samuel took on the triple jump. Mack took home a 13th place finish with a mark of 11.66m and Samuel finished in 25th at 11.38m.
The women’s 4x400 team ran their prelims in a time of 3:59.28 to finish in 21st place.
Tomorrow is a big day for the track and field teams as they have a good opportunity to bring home several All-Americans and good chances for a few national titles as well. Action begins for Cumberland at 12:40 p.m.
