NJCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships to Begin Thursday for Cloud County
Ready to get the action started on Thursday morning, the Cloud County Community College women's and men's track and field teams will compete one final time in 2022 when they partake in the 2022 NJCAA Outdoor Track and Field National Championships held in Hutchinson, Kansas.
The three-day meet, which is scheduled to get underway on May 19th, will take part over the course of three days with action starting at 9 AM on both Thursday and Friday before getting final day action started at 10 AM on Saturday. In total, 18 CCCC women and 26 T-Bird men are set to compete in the different events throughout the weekend as both teams enter the meet ranked inside the top five of the latest United States Track and Field Cross Country Coaches Association NJCAA Division I Track and Field Poll.
Starting things off on Thursday morning will be the multi-events with the Cloud County women having Vanessa Mercera competing in the heptathlon while Andrew Betton, Anson Moses, and Deandre Elliot competing in the opening day of the decathlon. Field events will then join the multi-events at 11 AM on Thursday with the women's hammer throw and men's long jump along with the men's hammer throw, women's long jump, and both the women's and men's pole vault to take place throughout the day. As for running events on Thursday, track events will get underway at 5 PM with the 4x800 meter relays followed by the prelims of the 4x100 meter relays and 400-meter hurdles. Action will be capped off with the women's and men's 10,000 meters to set up a full day of action on both Friday and Saturday.
Entering the weekend on the women's side, CCCC has 17 marks that rank inside the top eight which includes the top mark in the javelin by Jessi Brummett (43.70 meters, 143 ft. – 4 in.) and 100-meter hurdles with Miracle Thompson (13.22 seconds). Also ranking in the top two in their respective events are Vimbayi Maisvorewa (400 meters – 53.66 seconds), Hollie Stewart in the javelin (43.56 meters – 142 ft. – 11 in.), and the 4x800 meter relay team with a second-place composite time of 9:13.57. Other top marks put up by the T-Bird women heading into the 2022 National Championship meet include Lucy Ndungu in the 10,000-meters (third, 37:29.44), Maggie Armstrong in the pole vault (fourth, 3.31 meters, 10 ft. - 10.25 in.), and the 4x400 meter relay team which ranks fourth with a time of 3:44.15.
As for the Cloud County men, holding down top spots in the country in their respective events are Timothy Nyinguan (long jump, 8.08 meters – 26 ft. – 6.25 in.) and Mohamed Ahmed (hammer throw, 65.74 meters, 215 ft. – 8 in.), while Vincent Ugwoke (discus 55.37 meters – 181 ft. – 8 in.) ranks second in his event. Also ranking in the top five of their events are Betton in the decathlon (third, 6,497 points), Nyinguan in the triple jump (fourth, 15.86 meters, 52 ft. – 0.5 in.), and Ben Okraska in the pole vault (fifth, 4.65 meters, 15 ft. – 3 in.).
Fans wanting to tune into the 2022 NJCAA Division I Track and Field Championships will be able to do so through a live stream provided by the NJCAA at the following link (Cost of $15 for the entire three-day live stream): 2022 NJCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championship Live Stream.