Chattahoochee Tech wrapped up perhaps its finest outdoor track and field season since starting the program in 2006 with a school-record 24 athletes qualifying for last week’s NJCAA Division I National Championship meet in Levelland, Tex. The women’s finish of 16th nationally was the best team outdoor performance in the program’s history.
The Golden Eagles were well prepared with another rigorous schedule. This outdoor season saw Chattahoochee Tech, one of only four NJCAA track and field programs in the Southeastern United States, travel to powerhouses such as South Carolina, Ole Miss, Clemson and Georgia Tech to continue its trend of competing head-to-head with top NCAA competition. Chatt Tech also attended races at NCAA Division II Morehouse, Division III Birmingham Southern and Emory University, and NAIA Shorter University.
In addition to a strong showing at outdoor nationals, Chatt Tech also made history in the annual Super Region meet at Southern Miss. There against regional NJCAA opponents Lon Morris (Tex.), Hinds Community College (Miss.) and Arkansas Baptist, the women’s squad achieved its first-ever Super Region championship with a 211 to 155 advantage over nearest competitor Lon Morris. The men’s team also placed second at Southern Miss to set the stage for nationals.
The Golden Eagles broke over 30 school records during the outdoor season. This comes on the heels of a successful indoor 2012 season in which the college gained its first-ever national champion with triple-jumper Darice Bowie, who again represented Chatt Tech well at outdoor nationals.
Bowie finished runner-up at last week’s outdoor nationals with a mark of 40 feet, 4 inches to earn the Golden Eagles women eight points towards their record-breaking finish. It is Bowie’s second All-American performance in the triple jump to go along with her indoor championship.
Sophomore javelin thrower Madison Brown, a winner at several previous meets this season, jumped from her pre-meet national ranking of seventh to finish fourth, just missing top-three All-American status.
The men’s team also had an individual score points in a field event. Cedric Stadom finished seventh in the discus with a throw of 162 feet, 7 inches, and Dewayne Gurley just missed the finals with a 10th-place finish. Both athletes, ranked lower than 20th nationally before last week, set personal records in the discus and Stadom shattered the school record he set previously this season.
The men’s and women’s 4x100 and 4x400 teams just missed qualifying for the finals in their respective events. However, the women’s 4x400 squad of Kandice Dixon, Bowie, Tamia Gregory-McCain and Jazmyne Taylor broke another school record with a time of 3:59.71. The men’s 4x800 squad finished 12th to narrowly miss placing, as did women’s high jumper Kellie Wilson with an 11th-place finish.
Darryl Marlow, a seventh-place finisher in the long jump at indoor nationals, was just out of scoring contention with a 10th-place finish. Marlow, who also finished 14th in the triple jump, is committed to compete next season at Indiana Tech, a four-year NAIA school located in Fort Wayne, Ind.
Head coach Steve Prettyman and assistant Terry Rhodes expect many more current Golden Eagles to choose four-year college destinations, joining a host of Golden Eagles who have moved on to the next level since 2006.
Prettyman, who began the cross country program in 2004 and followed suit with track and field in 2006, has grown the program from a start-up into a national presence. The Golden Eagles were near the top of all NJCAA programs with 24 athletes — 16 men and eight women — at nationals. The incoming track and field recruiting class, which will be finalized in the summer, is shaping up to be the school’s finest haul of local talent yet.
The indoor teams, which took double-digit numbers to nationals in Charleston, Ill., back in March, were challenged by meets at NCAA Division I Tennessee State, Alabama-Birmingham and Clemson, as well as Division III Sewanee and Birmingham Southern.
The cross country program has grown its national presence by hosting the 2011 NJCAA Half-Marathon championship race at the Silver Comet Trail, and recently won the bid for the 2013 event. Cross country featured a Region 17 individual champion in women’s runner Hanna Hill back in the fall, and both the men’s and women’s teams finished second at the region race to qualify for nationals. Cross country competed at NCAA Division I UGA, Clemson, Florida State and Louisville, as well as Division III Oglethorpe and NAIA Berry College. The team annually hosts its Southern Collegiate Challenge in Acworth.
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