The Lindenwood track and field teams both finished in the top 10 at the 2010 NAIA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Marion, Indiana. The men placed 10th with a total of 27 points and the women came in eighth with 33 team points.
Bruno Boccalotta captured the men's hammer throw national championship, the first time that a Lindenwood thrower has won a national title in that event. Cecilia Mboua repeated her national crown in the triple jump after winning the event for the second straight year.
Three other Lady Lions also earned All-Americans honors at the national championship. Angela Krausz received the honor in the women's hammer throw, while teammate Jessica Ching was All-American in the 5,000m race walk and Lisa Hughes in the discus.
On the men's side two more Lions garnered All-American honors led by Mike Aitken who finished second place in the marathon while teammate Joshua Schmidt earned the honors in the 800 meter run.
Day One Recap
Boccalotta was the top highlight of day one, winning the men's hammer event. His first throw was 61.72m, which turned out good enough to win the competition. He bettered that mark five more times, including a winning throw of 65.09 during the fifth round. He won the event by over five meters, as the runner-up had a top throw of 59.83m. Lindenwood also scored one more point in that event, as Mitchell Heady finished eighth with a mark of 54.09m.
On the women's side, Krausz led Lindenwood with a second-place finish in the women's hammer. She was in ninth-place after five rounds but recorded a throw of 52.69m to jump up to second.
On the track, the men's 4x800 relay team advanced to Friday's finals. Individuals advancing to the next round included Teneignue Coulibaly in the women's 400m, Joshua Schmidt in the men's 800m, Romain Menard in the men's 400m hurdles, and Mustapha Habbani in the men's steeplechase.
Day Two Recap
Mboua, last year's NAIA outdoor triple jump champion, repeated her title on day two of the national championship. She led from her very first jump with a mark of 12.59m and never trailed. She bettered her mark two times including a winning mark of 12.66 in the fourth round
The other All-American performance on the day came from Jessica Ching in the 5,000m race walk. She was third in the event with a time of 25:31.58. The other points for the Lady Lions came from Lisa Hughes who came in seventh in the shot put with a mark of 14.26m.
On the men's side, Lindenwood earned points from the 4x800 relay team. The squad of Noe Hernandez, Matt Petersen, Joshua Schmidt, and Nicholas Yegon came in the seventh with a mark of 7:45.08. The other main highlight for the Lions was Joshua Schmidt advancing to Saturday's finals in the 800m.
Day Three Recap
For the second consecutive year Lisa Hughes finished an event with All-American honors. A year ago it was in the shot put but this year it was a third place finish in the women's discus. Hughes' teammate Jessica Ecker just missed being an All-American with an eighth place finish in the same event.
On the men's side Mike Aitken finished in second place in the men's marathon, just two minutes behind Jeff Jackson of The Masters. In other events on the final day, freshman Joshua Schmidt finished in eighth place in the 800 meter run and Jim Freeman placed in eighth place in the shot put.