(BRADENTON, Fla.) – Central Missouri collected nine All-American awards, seven on the men’s side and two from the women as they wrapped up the three-day NCAA National Championship meet.
The final day saw the Mules earn four of their seven awards as they finished fifth in the team standings with 36 points. That’s their highest team finish since the 2010 season when they finished in third place, according to a news release.
The Jennies took home two All-American awards, Brittany Kallenberger in the pole vault and the 4-x-400 meter relay team. Their five team points put them in a tie for 43rd place overall.
Each event the Mules competed in on the final day saw at least one All-American. It started with the javelin when Chris Swearingin became a three-time All-American, finishing in eighth place with a 212-1 throw. Swearingin, a senior, finishes his career with more All-American awards in the javelin than any Mule or Jennie in UCM history. He also ties his sister, Brooke Swearingin, with three career All-American awards.
The Mules were the only team to have two All-Americans come out of the shot put. Jacob Mahin finished in second place, his highest finish ever at a national meet. He threw 61-4.25. Mahin made the NCAA National Championship four times in his career, and earned an All-American award each time.
Redshirt freshman Nathan Cummings earned a fourth-place finish. Cummings was one of the final entrants in the field, coming in with a tie for the 16th-best mark in the nation. He set a personal-best on his second throw of the day of 56-11.5 to give him his first career All-American and move him up to fifth place all-time at UCM.
The championships ended with the 4-x-400. The Mules had the fifth-fastest time in the prelims, running 3:10.86, which matched their season-best from the MIAA Championships. Similar to the preliminary round, Jacob Randle moved the Mules all the way up from seventh to third and senior Osvaldo Granillo held off the field to keep UCM in third place. The group of Randle, Granillo, Michael Lockhart and Jacob Weber ran the third-fastest time in UCM history of 3:10.37. For seniors Granillo and Lockhart, it is their second career All-American award, Randle, a junior, has been a part of three All-American relay teams and Weber, a freshman, ran in his first NCAA Championship and earned his first career All-American award.
All of the Jennies points came on day three. Brittany Kallenberger finished her career with her fifth All-American award. She jumped 12-10.75 in the pole vault and finished in fifth place. No other Jennie has more career All-American awards in the pole vault than Kallenberger.
The Mules weren’t the only 4×400 relay team to race in the finals. Sanikee Gardner, Katie Cassidy, Emily Thole and Kailey Fuchs finished in eighth place in the 1600-meter relay with a time of 3:42.99. For Cassidy, it is her fourth career All-American award and second as a part of a relay. Fuchs now has two relay All-American awards and three total. Thole, a sophomore, has now picked up her second career All-American and Gardner earned her first with this race.
Over the first two days, Blake Seitz scored 7,362 points in the decathlon and finished third overall, his highest ever at a national meet. The score also moves him into third place all-time at UCM. He earned his fourth career All-American award and third in the decathlon.
Seitz was the winner of both throwing events on day two, the discus (138-1) and the javelin (204-6), both of those marks were personal-bests. He also had a PR in the final event, the 1500-meter at 4:37.21. On day one he had good marks in the high jump where he finished second, clearing 6-5. He was also fifth in the shot put, throwing 41-7, and in the long jump with a 22-7 jump. Seitz ended day one setting a PR in the 400-meter dash, running 51.16.
Much earlier in the competition, Cole Phillips became a five-time All-American in the pole vault, and finished second for the second straight outdoor season. His jump of 17-7 came on his final attempt at the bar and matched a lifetime PR. Phillips was one of two to get over the 5.36-meter bar, but finished second due to number of attempts.
Ben Hanson earned the Mules thrower’s first All-American award by throwing a personal-best 200-8 in the hammer throw. He was ranked outside the top-10 coming into the event and placed seventh overall. The throw moves him to sixth place all-time at UCM and is his first All-American award with the Mules.
Behind Hanson’s All-American award in the hammer throw were Jace Kaleikau and Nathan Liby. Kaleikau just missed the finals, finishing 10th by throwing 198-6 and Liby was a spot behind in 11th, throwing 197-6.
Before running in the 4-x-400, Fuchs, Thole and Cassidy all took part in individual events. Fuchs took 15th place in the 800-meter run after completing the two-lap race in 2:10.27. Thole ran her first career individual event at nationals, the 400, and finished 19th with a time of 56.04. Cassidy started the heptathlon and scored 3,002 points on day one, but pulled out on day two and took a DNF.
The only thrower for the Jens was Amy Dorge in the discus. She finished in 21st place, throwing 139-9.