Yankton, S.D. – The first NAIA men’s national championship of the 2020-21 season is in the books in a wild and thrilling fashion. The 56th annual NAIA Men's Indoor Track & Field Championships was held at the Ruth Donohoe Fieldhouse on the campus of Mount Marty (S.D.). There were at least 10 lead changes in the standings throughout the final day, with the team national champion being determined on the final event of the day.

After Indiana Tech claimed the 4x400m relay title, the Warriors were trailing by 1.5 points to Dordt (Iowa) before the final event. Indiana Tech captured its second team title in three years after Neville Smith’s third place in the triple jump on the final event, scoring 51.5 points in the meet.

Indiana Tech collected their sixth title in eight years. The Warriors scored 16 points in the final two events to claim the team title. Doug Edgar was named the NAIA Indoor Track & Field Coach-of-the-Year after guiding his women’s and men’s squads to a sweep of the national titles (women’s won the team title on Friday).

The Defenders finished second with 47 points, followed by Oklahoma City third with 42 points. Indiana Wesleyan placed fourth with 39 points. Marian (Ind.) was fifth with 34.5 points.

• The day kicked off with the 3000-meters racewalk. West Virginia Tech won the event for the second straight year, this year was won by Steven Smith with a time of 12:26.92.

• Grand View (Iowa) won its first 4x800m relay title (consisted of Carter Huyser, Ben Huftalin, Talon Munger and Isaiah Wittrock) in program history by clocking a time of 7:41.32.

• Thomas Jackson of Bethel (Ind.) won the long jump after leaping 7.34 meters (24 feet, 1 inch) on his first attempt.

• Midland (Neb.) grabbed the lead with 20 points after the morning session was completed, thanks to a pair of national champions in the field events.

• Dylan Kucera of Midland defended his shot-put title by tossing 18.27 meters (59 feet, 11.25 inches). He improved his mark from the previous national title in 2020 (17.74 meters – 58 feet, 2.5 inches). Kucera was second in the weight throw with 19.86 meters (65 feet, 2 inches).

• Shandon Reitzell of Midland captured the high jump national title, clearing 2.13 meters (7 feet).

• The mid-day session began with the 1-mile run, won by Tim Thacker of Milligan (Tenn.) in 4:12.25. He was the first Milligan to win the national indoor 1-mile run in school history.

• A photo finish highlighted the 60m hurdles that were decided by .008 seconds. Brandon Schultz of Brewton-Parker (Ga.) edged out Coby Bailey of Indiana Tech. Schultz had a time of 7.951 seconds, while Bailey recorded a time of 7.959 seconds. It was the first national individual title for Brewton-Parker in program history.

• Alexander Gray of Warner (Fla.) collected two sprint titles and was named the Most Valuable Performer of the meet with 20 points. He won the 60m dash in 6.73 seconds and the 200m dash in 21.59 seconds.

• Ben Jefferies of Briar Cliff (Iowa) ran a time of 47.16 seconds to win the 400m dash national title, becoming the second individual champion in program history (Augustus Cowan in the triple jump in 2013).

• Reggie Mouton of Wayland Baptist (Texas) captured the 600m run title for the second straight year, clocking a time of 1:19.65.

• Matthew Van Eps of Dordt (Iowa) repeated his 800m run national title with a time of 1:52.35.

• Indiana Wesleyan led after the 5000m run (after 18 events scored) with 38 points, while Indiana Tech was second with 35.5 points. Dordt was third with 35 points.

• Zouhar Talbi of Oklahoma City broke the NAIA Men’s Indoor Track National Championship meet record in the 5000m run. He posted a time of 13 minutes, 44.13 seconds, breaking the previous national championship meet record of 13:52.15 by Silah Misoi of Life (Ga.) in 1999.

• Talbi’s teammate Sair Salgado finished second in the 5000m in 14:37.08, moving the Stars to a fourth place in the team standings.

• On the ensuing event, Talbi anchored the winning Stars’ distance medley relay team with Shimales Abebe, Antravius Perkins and Milan Todorovi. Tabli ran on the final leg and the relay team finished with a time of 9:56.08.

• Tabli was named to the Outstanding Performer of the national meet.

• The Stars held the lead briefly after the distance medley relay with 42 points (Dordt was second with 39 points, Indiana Wesleyan third with 39 points and Indiana Tech 35.5 points).

• The Defenders took the lead after 4x400m relay event with 47 points after finishing second behind Indiana Tech. The Warriors won the relay with a time of 3:17.73, followed by Dordt with a time of 3:18.55.

• It was the closest margin between the top two teams since the 2011 national meet (Shorter, Ga. with 44 points and Wayland Baptist with 41 points).