EMPORIA, Kan. — Tusculum University collected a pair of championships on the final day of the NCAA Division II Women’s Outdoor Track & Field Championship at Francis G. Welch Stadium on the campus of Emporia State University.
The Pioneer women’s 4×100-meter relay of sophomore Qitarah Castlin, senior Shanice Cox, sophomore Kori Moore and senior Jahzara Hart won gold, and Hart followed up by winning the 100 meters to give Tusculum the first two national championships in program history.
In all, the Pioneers had six first-team All-America performances at the championship, with Hart adding a third-place result in the 200 meters, Castlin placing fourth in the 100 meters and sixth in the 200 meters, and Moore seventh in the 100 hurdles.
The performances of Hart, Moore, Castlin and Cox helped the Pioneers to a program-best fifth-place finish at the championship. Tusculum is the highest-finishing SAC school since the conference began sponsoring outdoor track & field as a championship sport in 2014.
Tusculum was the top seed in the 4×100 relay after running 44.15 seconds in Thursday’s preliminaries. On Saturday, the Pioneers were second on the final handoff from Moore to Hart, but Hart was able to run down Mount Olive in the stretch to secure the first gold in program history at 44.05 seconds. The quartet finished the season undefeated in seven races.
Hart was seeded second in the finals of the 100 meters and was in fourth place midway through the race, but used her trademark strong finish to burst to the lead and take the gold on the lean at the line with a time of 11.30 seconds. Castlin was among those battling for the win but ended up in fourth place in 11.36 seconds.
In the 200 meters, Hart ran out of lane eight and was chasing down the leaders by the end of the race before ending up third at 23.46 seconds. Castlin took sixth with a time of 23.70 seconds. Moore ran in the 100 hurdles finals and took seventh place overall with a time of 13.59 seconds.
Hart is now a nine-time All-American in track & field at Tusculum, including seven first-team All-America honors and four medal performances. Castlin is a five-time All-American (three first-team, two second-team), and Cox and Moore each have four All-America honors (two first-team, two second-team), all under the direction of head coach Robert Williams.
West Texas A&M won the team championship in the final race, taking first place in the 4×400 relay to beat out Pittsburg State by a margin of 64-63.2. Colorado School of Mines and Missouri Southern State tied for third at 40 points, with the Pioneers in fifth at 36 points just ahead of sixth-place Northwest Missouri State with 35 points.
Tusculum was the highest-finishing private university in the final standings, which had 60 schools earn at least one point.
NCAA Division II Women’s Outdoor Track & Field Championship
at Emporia, Kansas – Day 3 of 3
Tusculum results
100: 1. Jahzara Hart, 11.30; 4. Qitarah Castlin, 11.36.
100 hurdles: 7. Kori Moore, 13.59.
200: 3. Jahzara Hart, 23.46; 6. Qitarah Castlin, 23.70.
4×100: 1. Tusculum (Castlin, Cox, Moore, Hart), 44.05.
Team standings (top 10): 1. West Texas A&M 64; 2. Pittsburg State 63.2; 3. Colorado School of Mines 40; 3. Missouri Southern 40; 5. Tusculum 36; 6. Northwest Missouri State 35; 7. Mount Olive 28; 8. Hillsdale 24.5; 8. Minnesota State 24.5; 10. Central Missouri 24.
