By: Con Marshall, CSC Sports Information
COLORADO SPRINGS -- March 1, 2020 -- With sophomore Brodie Roden leading the way, the Chadron State College men's track and field team scored 64.3 points to finish fifth at the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Indoor Championships in Colorado Springs on Friday and Saturday.
Roden was the star of the show. The Riverton, Wyo., standout won both the 200- and 400-meter dashes and led the way as the Eagles placed third in the 4x400 relay enroute to being named the Outstanding Male Athlete of the Meet.
Roden had no problem winning either of the sprints. He ran the 200 in 21.80 seconds and the 400 in 47.93. His 400 time broke the conference meet record of 48.40 that had belonged to another Chadron State great, Joel Duffield of Morrill, since 2006.
Duffield later set the Chadron State 400 record of 47.22 seconds while finishing second in the race at the NCAA Division II Indoor National Championships in Boston. Roden will run the 400 at this year's National Indoor Championships in Birmingham, Ala., on March 12-14.
Chadron State Coach Riley Northrup said he was not surprised that Roden performed so well at the conference championships after seeing his improvement during workouts last fall and throughout the current season. Roden's best marks last season indoors were 22.87 and 50.15.
As a high school senior, he was undefeated in the sprints in Wyoming and won the Class 3A 100, 200 and 400 dashes at the state meet
Roden wasn't the only Chadron State athlete to excel at the conference showdown.
Freshman Naishaun Jernigan of Springfield, Mass., was the silver medalist in both the long and triple jumps with marks of 23-3 ½ and 49-3. And, his classmate, Derrick Nwagwu of Aurora, Colo., placed third in the triple jump by going 48-11.
Both of his rookies' triple jump marks are their season-bests and are expected to qualify them for the National Indoor Championships, Northrup said.
The jumps also provided all the other points that Chadron State earned at the RMAC Meet. Senior Javan Lanier placed fourth in the long jump by going 22-9, sophomore Brock Voth was eighth in the triple jump at 47-2 ¼, sophomore Joe Dumsa finished in a three-way tie for second in the high jump by clearing 6-6 ¼ and junior Allee Williamson of Cheyenne placed sixth in the women's jump with a leap of 5-2 ¼.
Although she missed placing by 18 inches, freshman Rebecca Monahan threw what was a personal best for her in the shot put with a heave of 40-0 ½. It was her first throw of the meet and her first collegiate mark of more than 40 feet.