Angelo State Wins 3 National Titles at Outdoor Track Championships

EMPORIA, KS – The Angelo State track and field teams earned three national titles and 22 All-American honors over the weekend at the NCAA Division II Outdoor National Championships in Emporia, Kansas.

The Rams finished seventh overall as a team with 37.33 points.

Freshman William Opare won the title in the 400-meter run in a time of 44.95 seconds, which was the fifth-fastest time in the history of Division II. The mark also set a new ASU record, besting the 45.69 set by Luis Perez in 2016.

Opare followed that up with a national title in the 200 with a new personal-best time of 20.45 seconds.

He finished his spectacular season by helping the 4x400 relay — along with Taylor Briggs, Jahleel Armstrong and Rami Balta — to a win in 3:04.46. It broke ASU’s 29-year-old record in the event at over a second faster than the previous best, a 3:05.89 set back in 1997. 

Armstrong was sixth in the 400 in 46.61 to earn first-team All-American honors.

The top eight finishers were first-team All-Americans, while the next eight were second-team All-Americans.

Other highlights included Jaime Moreno taking fifth in the javelin with a throw of 229 feet, 11 inches.

Kaylee Price finished seventh in the 400 hurdles, crossing the line with a personal-best time of 59.27 seconds.

Three field athletes – Jonathan Wright, Abril Okon and Ekaterina Fedotova – all earned second-team All-American honors.

Wright topped out with a mark of 16-5.75 feet for 14th in the pole vault, while Okon had a mark of 5-3.75 feet for 15th in the high jump, and Fedotova's best throw in the javelin was 147-8 feet for 14th.

On Friday, Dayvon Williams finished in a three-way tie for eighth place in the high jump at 6-10.75.

Okon wrapped up the heptathlon competition in 14th with 4,874 points.

Vanam Sharma joined Okon as a second-team All-American, finishing 12th in the discus with a throw of 169-4.