BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Mt. Vernon graduate Christian Noble won his second NCAA Division II Championship in as many days and the Lee University men’s track & field team placed fourth at the 2021 NCAA D-II Indoor Track & Field Championships on Saturday.
The Lee University Flames collected 34 points and were just five points behind West Texas A&M for third. Ashland University won the team championship with 70 points and Grand Valley State University (53) was second.
Noble posted a time of 8:00.45 in the 3,000-meter run to edge Grand Valley State’s Isaac Harding (8:00.63) to collect his second championship of the weekend and not only become Lee’s first NCAA DII Champion, but also take his place as the first to win multiple championships.
On Friday, Noble became the first NCAA Division-II National Champion in Lee University school history by winning the 5,000-meter race.
Noble was the No. 1 seed entering that race after he set a Division-II record of 13:37.39 seconds on the same track inside the Birmingham CrossPlex on Jan. 24.
During indoor nationals, Noble covered the same distance in 13:47.45 to win over Harding by 0.91 seconds.
Noble started the 3,000-meter race near the back of the field before working his way into the top three at the 2,000-meter mark. Over the next 400 meters he was in second position.
Noble held a 0.22 second lead at the 2,600-meter interval. Harding moved ahead of Noble with 200 meters remaining, but Noble covered the final 200 in 28.22 seconds to retake the lead for good.
“I wanted to position myself near third or fourth throughout the race,” Noble remarked after the race. “Going into the last 400 I took the lead and thought I could lead it from 400 to 500 out. One lap to go, (Harding) took the lead and I tried to respond, he slid out into lane two, but I gathered myself and ended up passing him in the end.”
A graduate student at Lee University, Noble was recently named a Sourth Region Track Athlete of the Year by the U.S. Track & Field Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) for the 2021 NCAA Division II Indoor Track & Field season.
Voelz finishes fourth at NCAAs
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – A day after setting a career-best in the 800-meter preliminary run during the NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships, Notre Dame’s Samuel Voelz, a New Palestine graduate, earned All-American honors.
The Irish wrapped up their stay at the University of Arkansas with the final day of the NCAA Indoor Championships on Saturday.
Voelz highlighted the final day with a fourth-place finish in the 800 final, finishing with a time of 1:47.62 to become a First-Team All-American. The time is not only a personal record but also the second fastest time recorded in Notre Dame program history, just .12 seconds shy of the top time.
A senior middle-distance runner for the Irish, Voelz entered the men’s 2021 indoor track season a 2020 ACC champion in the 800 (1:50.03), a two-time ACC champion on the medley relay team and a former First-Team All-American.
In 2019, he claimed his first NCAA championship on the medley relay team and earned First-Team All-American status and was named All-ACC First Team.
On Friday in Fayetteville, Ark., Voelz posted a career-best in the 800 prelims, placing second with a time of 1:47.82. Voelz’s time tied for the second fastest in program history in the event.
