The Bob Jones University track & field teams are coming home with some hardware after Joshua Landry finished first overall as a national champion in the javelin throw at the NCCAA National Championships in Columbia, South Carolina. In addition to Landry's championship, several school and personal records were broken. 

The three-day meet got underway Wednesday afternoon with five Bruins opening the competition in the multi-event. Briana Felter was the lone Bruin in the women's heptathlon with Misha Gray, Michael Leonard, Jon Vance, and Ian Flynn representing Bob Jones in the decathlon. 

In her first collegiate heptathlon, Felter finished day one of the multi-event in seventh place overall with solid standings in the 100 meter hurdles, high jump, shot put, and a third place finish in the 200 meter race. 

In the decathlon, the four Bruins competed in five events: the 100 meter run, long jump, shot put, high jump, and the 400 meter run. Throughout the day, the Bruins saw several highlights including a second place finish in the high jump by Leonard. Leonard led the Bruins after day one, sitting in third place. Gray sat in fourth place with Vance and Flynn rounding up the rest of the competition. 

After a lightning delay at the beginning of Thursday, day two of competition got underway. 

Felter had three remaining events in the heptathlon. After competing in the long jump, javelin, and 800 meter run, she completed all seven events in eighth place to secure a point for the women's team. 

Over in the decathlon, Vance, Leonard, and Gray opened the day in the 110 meter hurdles where they each earned personal bests in the event. In the discus, Leonard finished right outside of second place with a throw of 28.07 meters. The three continued to battle in the pole vaulting portion of the decathlon. Gray led the way for the Bruins and cleared 2.75 meters on his first attempt. 

Leonard and Gray each hit 40+ meters in their javelin throws with Gray coming in third at 42.59 meters. In the final event of the decathlon, Gray and Leonard raced to personal bests. At the end of ten events, Gray finished fifth overall with Leonard right behind him in sixth. 

Off the track, Joshua Garian represented Bob Jones in the discus. His best attempt was his first throw which went a distance of 35.34 meters. 

Continuing the field events were Samuel Ashley and Joshua Landry. While Ashley was unable to receive a mark, Landry made his way into the finals after three good throws.

In his first throw of the finals, Landry hit a new personal and school record with a distance of 57.35 meters. His throw put him into first place. After each of the contestants' next two attempts, the result held seeing Landry finish first in the nation with the title of NCCAA National Champion. 
 

"I trained hard and left the results up to Him. He deserves all the glory!"  - Joshua Landry

Landry joins former Bruin Brian Sims to be just the second national champion in Bruins track & field history and the first ever in a field event. 




Thursday evening, Robert Ulsh opened the track events in the 110 meter hurdle preliminaries. With a time of 16.92 seconds, Ulsh positioned himself well to earn a spot in Friday's event final.
 
In her final race as a Bruin, Mia Marks finished with a time of 14.19 in the 100 meter dash. In the men's field, Leonardo Mota sped down the track in the 100 meter to a PR of 11.23 seconds. 

In the 200 meter race, Melody Davis raced around the track to a personal best of 27.55. William Stark joined teammate Mota in the 200 meter where they each raced to personal bests with times of 22.93 and 23.09. 

After a long day of competition, the Bruins put three student-athletes in the 10k race. Cora Gagne raced around the track 25 times to a finish of 48:17.03. At the conclusion of the women's race, Evan Seaman and James Baer toed the starting line. It was a hard fought race as Seaman crossed the finished line sixth overall with a time of 32:54.06 to pick up three points for the team. Baer finished his first collegiate 10k with a time of 36:50.03 to wrap up the second day of competition. 

Senior Joy Hast opened the final day of the national meet in the 5k. Following 12 laps around the track, Hast completed her collegiate career with a 5k time of 19:47.40.

In the field, it was time for the women's javelin. Abigail Woo opened the event for the Bruins but was unable to put up a mark with three fouls. Grace Bailey started well and advanced to the finals. Her distance of 31.58 put her in the top ten in the women's event. 

Back on the track, Trenton Goldsmith picked up two points for the men's team in the 3000 meter steeplechase with a new personal best time of 10:14.42.

Ulsh was back on the track for the 110 meter hurdle finals. He raced down the straightaway to a PR of 16.74 to pick up another point for the Bruins. 
 
In the 400 meter race, William Stark made his way around the track to a personal best of 49.97. 

Looking for a strong finish, Davis for the women and Gray and Ulsh for the men took to the start line in the 400 meter hurdles. Davis cleared her hurdles in a time of 1:11.60. At the men's race, Gray picked up a big fourth place finish with a time of 57.52. Ulsh finished a second behind to come in sixth overall. 

Out of 26 team scores, the men's team finished 11th with 31 points. While the women's team only picked up one team point, they still competed well. 

Full results from the NCCAA National Championships can be found here.