Noble's Second Title Helps Flames Finish Fourth At NCAA DII Indoor Championships
Photo by Reily Anderson courtesy of Lee Athletic Communications.
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Christian Noble won his second NCAA Division II Championship in as many days and the Lee University men's track & field team placed fourth at the 2021 NCAA DII Indoor Track & Field Championships.
The Flames collected 34 points and were just five points behind West Texas A&M for third. Ashland University won the team championship with 70 points and Grand Valley State University (53) was second.
Noble posted a time of 8:00.45 in the 3000-meter run to edge Grand Valley State's Isaac Harding (8:00.63) to collect his second championship of the weekend and not only become Lee's first NCAA DII Champion, but also take his place as the first to win multiple championships.
Noble started the race near the back of the field before working his way into the top three at the 2000-meter mark. Over the next 400 meters he was in second position. Noble held a 0.22 second lead at the 2600-meter interval. Isaac Harding of Grand Valley State made his move to jump ahead of Noble with 200 meters remaining. Noble covered the final 200 in 28.22 seconds to retake the lead and hold off a strong charge by Harding.
"I wanted to position myself near third or fourth throughout the race," said Noble. "Going into the last 400 I took the lead and thought I could lead it from 400 to 500 out. One lap to go, (Harding) took the lead and I tried to respond, he slid out into lane two, but I gathered myself and ended up passing him in the end."
Wynand Du Toit finished third in the 400-meter dash to add six points to the team total. He crossed the finish line at 47.55 seconds. Jalon White of Quincy was first (47.36) and Channing Phillips of Ashland (47.51) placed second.
The 4x400-meter relay team of Caleb Campbell, Jeremiah McCain, Siphosethu Boya and Du Toit put the final bow on the weekend with a second-place finish and eight more points to the tally. Campbell completed the first 400-meter leg in 48.59 seconds before handing off to McCain. McCain took 48.06 seconds for his leg and Boya completed the circuit in 48.26 seconds to cut into the Ashland lead. Du Toit ran an anchor time of 46.63 seconds to maintain the team's position.
"Our goal was to finish in the top four and bring home a trophy," said Lee head coach Caleb Morgan. "Everybody came in and did a phenomenal job. The 4x400 really closed it out for us in getting second. Christian taking away both individual titles is something we have really been looking forward to for a long time."
The Flames will now turn their attention to the outdoor season. Lee travels to Montevallo, Ala., on March 19-20 for the Montevallo Falcon Classic.
