Idamadudu claims fourth NAIA national title
Mar. 6—BROOKINGS, S.D. — Cumberland's Praise Idamadudu captured her fourth NAIA national championship of her career while the Phoenix had eight individuals land on the podium on the final day of the NAIA Indoor National Championships last Saturday.
The Phoenix women are bringing hardware home for the first time in program history. The team finished with 42 points to take third place for their highest-finish ever at nationals.
Idamadudu played a large part in the Phoenix's points, garnering 18 points individually. She claimed her fourth NAIA national championship winning the 400 meter title with a time of 52.87
seconds. The mark established a new NAIA school record time of 52.87 seconds to win the 400-meter dash title, the first Phoenix 400 meter dash national title in school history. The previous old NAIA Championship meet record was set in 1996 (28 years ago) by Fatmat Yusuf of Azusa Pacific (Calif.) in 53.05 seconds.
The record-breaking run helped her claim the NAIA's Outstanding Performer.
In her second event of the day, Idamadudu was eyeing a second title in the 60m dash, but was beat by Jamaya Warthan by six-thousandths of a second. Her secondeplace time clocked in at 7.389 seconds.
Idamadudu also competed with 4x400 meter relay team with Doris Mensah, Ezthia Maycock and Ifunanya Muoghalu. The team finished in fourth place in the event with a time of 3:47.29 seconds.
Daveina Watson posted her highest finish in the shot put earning national runner-up honors in second place. Watson posted a mark of 14.72 meters, a personal best for Watson.
Mensah claimed eighth place in the 60 meter hurdles. She qualified for the finals yesterday and earned All-American honors today with a time of 8.48 seconds, a personal best.
Blessing Samuel earned points in the long jump Friday with a third-place finish. She competed in the triple jump Saturday, finishing in 12th place at 11.73 meters.
The Cumberland men totaled nine points at the championships to finish in 32nd place.
Joel Forbes finished in second place in the 800 meters. He finished in second at the Outdoor Championships last season. He posted a time of 1:51.32 for national runner-up honors. The time is also a new national record for his home country of the Bahamas in the event.
Freshman Juan Orejuela De La Rose landed on the podium in eighth place in the shot put. He posted a mark of 16.32 meters to earn All-American honors.
Freshman Amir Mersal also competed n the triple jump, posting a 19th-place finish with a mark of 14.03 meters.
The University of the Cumberlands claimed the men's national championship with 80 points. Indiana Tech won the women's title with 88 points.
