JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. – Senior Vivian Chukwuemeka solidified her stance as the greatest female thrower in NAIA track & field history with yet another victory and another appearance on the championship podium.

Chukwuemeka became the first athlete ever to capture 4 straight weight throw titles when she won the event yet again with another NAIA record-setting effort. Chukwuemeka heaved the 20-pound metal ball 61’ 8 ¼” to break her won national record by more than a foot and easily out-distance second-place Ann Gramkow of Midland Lutheran (Neb.) by more than 5 feet. The event’s outcome was never really in doubt; it was just a matter of whether or not Chukwuemeka could best her record that she set last year. And she did. In fact, Chukwuemeka has broken the NAIA record in the weight throw every year since her 2002 freshman campaign. During Saturday’s championship competition, the native Nigerian will gun for a similarly unprecedented feat in the shot, eyeing her fourth straight title and her own NAIA record of 59’ 2”

Chukwuemeka’s victory, combined with teammate Barbara Sugar’s sixth-place finish in the weight throw (51’ 9¼”) catapulted Azusa Pacific in the lead for the women’s national team championship. The Cougars added to their cushion at the close of day 2 of this 3-day meet when they finished second in the 4x800-meter relay. The quartet of Niema Golphin, Olivia Richert, Marissa Reeber and Brianna Carstensen clocked a 9:10.76, the third fastest time in program history, but it was 4 seconds behind the winning team from Oklahoma Baptist. Nonetheless, the 8 points for second place gave Azusa Pacific 26 points after the second day, doubling the point-total of second-place Doane (Neb.).

The Azusa Pacific men followed up Brian Bernard’s victory yesterday in the pentathlon with 8 more points today in the 4x800 relay. Tony Ramirez, Caleb Lynch, Kevin Lindsey and Danny Reid ran a 7:41.40 over the course of 3,200 meters, the seventh fastest performance in school history, to finish second, less than 2 seconds behind the winning team from Virginia Intermont.

With the additional 8 points, Azusa Pacific sits in second place in the men’s standings after 2 days of competition with 18 points. Dickinson State (N.D.), the reigning NAIA outdoor champ, currently leads with 30 points.

In preliminary rounds of competition, Ramirez (400), Lynch (600), Reid (800) and Lindsey (1000) all advanced to the Saturday’s finals with heat-leading efforts today. Sophomore Peter Sherman had a near 15-second PR in the 3000 to also qualify for the finals. Sophomore Matt Spraks moved through the semifinals of the 55-meter high hurdles.

Bernard, who is still recovering from a grueling Thursday in which he collected his first-ever NAIA title in the pentathlon, finished ninth in the high jump at 6’ 4 ¾” after going over 6’ 7” yesterday.

Besides Chukwuemeka in the shot put, the Cougar women will looking for points from Golphin, who is in the finals of the 200 and 400 meters and Carstensen in the 3000, along with the finals of the distance medley relay.

Click here for complete 2-day results of the NAIA Indoor Track & Field Championships.