John Carroll has Phillip and Dailey take top two spots in men’s 10,000 race, with Wellesley’s Marks ending string of runner-up efforts with women’s title; MIT’s Wei eclipses 1974 championship record in men’s long jump

By Erik Boal, DyeStat Editor

Alex Phillip continued one of the most impressive stretches of championship racing of any distance runner in NCAA Division 3 history and Thursday, the John Carroll standout got to share his success with teammate Jamie Dailey at the SPIRE Institute in Geneva, Ohio.

Ari Marks finally enjoyed the career breakthrough she had been patiently waiting for, with the Wellesley athlete ending a stretch of three consecutive runner-up finishes in national championship races by defeating a former division 10,000-meter champion.

Kenneth Wei of MIT saved his best effort for last in the long jump and it not only resulted in a championship, but also the Division 3 finals record.

And Wisconsin-Eau Claire star Marcus Weaver repeated as men’s javelin champion, in addition to taking the lead at the midway point of the decathlon, positioning himself to produce a repeat of last year’s success when he secured both titles.

Phillip, the defending Division 3 cross country champion along with the winner of both the 3,000- and 5,000-meter titles at the indoor finals in March, added his first 10,000-meter crown in 30:02.53, with Dailey placing second in 30:05.03.

Phillip stretched his lead to as much as 17 seconds, before Dailey made up significant ground in the final mile, including a 66-second last lap.

Marks grabbed the lead from 2019 winner Kassie Parker of Loras at the 7,000-meter mark and never relinquished control, clocking 34:50.55 to secure her first national crown. Parker, the Division 3 cross country champion and winner of the indoor 3,000 and 5,000 titles, placed second in 35:17.82.

Weaver followed his 222-foot performance (67.68m) in the javelin last year in Greensboro, N.C., with a fourth-round effort Thursday of 219-9 (67.00m) to rally past Will Lawrence of Wisconsin-Platteville and his opening-round throw of 216-7 (66.03m).

Weaver also accumulated 3,933 points in the decathlon to build a lead over Maguire Peterson of St. John’s in Minnesota, who has 3,852 points following the first day.

Kennedy Gibbins of Mount Union secured the lead following four events in the heptathlon with 3,260 points, establishing a lead over Hannah Zenkovich of Wisconsin-LaCrosse and her total of 3,070 points.

Wei trailed Ahmir Johnson of Rowan and his second-round mark of 24-9.75 (7.56m) entering his final attempt, before responding with a lifetime-best 25-10.25 (7.88m) leap to eclipse the 1974 meet record of 25-8 (7.82m) by David Boyd of Fisk.

Victoria Kadiri of Johns Hopkins triumphed in the women’s long jump with a fourth-round mark of 19-9.50 (6.03m), achieving a come-from-behind victory against WPI’s Katy Nippert, who took the lead on her third attempt with a 19-8 (5.99m) performance.

Skye Dingman of Wisconsin-LaCrosse launched the discus 157-7 (48.03m) on her first throw and it managed to hold up to secure the championship, with only Vanessa Uitenbroek of Carroll in Wisconsin mounting a charge with a second-round effort of 154-3 (47.03m).

Steven Hermsen of Carroll won the men’s discus with a fifth-round throw of 180-2 (54.93m), surging past Gabe Irons of Bethel in Minnesota and his 179-1 (54.58m) effort.

Emma Rudolph of Westminster in Pennsylvania and Gracie Holland of Wisconsin-Whitewater both cleared 12-11.50 (3.95m) on their first attempt in the women’s pole vault final. But Rudolph prevailed based on fewer attempts at earlier heights after both athletes missed three opportunities each at 13-1.50 (4.00m).

The women’s javelin was all decided in the first round, with Ava Nelson of Pacific Lutheran opening her series with a 150-8 (45.94m) performance that withstood the efforts of George Fox’s Chrissy Strickland and many others. Strickland also achieved her best mark with her 146-6 (44.66m) opener.