With the 2020 NCAA Division II Indoor Track & Field Championships just a few days away on March 13 and 14, the Tiffin track & field men have hit the road to Birmingham, Ala. to try for their third Indoor title in the last five years.

Links

Live Results
Video - Day One
Video - Day Two
NCAA DII Indoor T&F Page

Dragon Details

In addition to attempting to claim their third Indoor title since 2016, the men are also looking for their fifth-straight top-3 finish at Indoor Nationals and seventh in a row in the top 6. Counting Outdoor Nationals, the Dragons are also on a streak of eight-straight top-five finishes at Division II Track & Field Championships.

The Dragons are in a great position to keep those streaks alive and contend for the third title, as the men enter the championships ranked third in the nation by the USTFCCCA after spending the entire indoor season in the top-5 including three weeks at No. 1 in the country. Tiffin is also coming off its second-straight GMAC Championship, won handily by 93 points over the next highest program.

Tiffin is sending nine athletes with 11 entries to Birmingham, with eight of the 11 entries in the top-10 of their events and seven of the nine athletes already having NCAA Championships experience. In alphabetical order, the nine are Isaiah Allen (shot put), Jonte Baker (60m), Jabari Bennett (shot put), Cameron Burrows (heptathlon, high jump, long jump), Nikolas Curtiss (shot put), Eric Jackson (shot put), Collin Jasin (pole vault), Quincy Scott (long jump), and Errik Snell (60m hurdles). Scheduled start times for each men's event that Tiffin is participating in are at the end of this preview.

Jonte Baker may be the most recognizable athlete for Tiffin at the championships, as the 'fastest man in Division II' is back for his senior season to defend his 2019 titles in the indoor 60m, outdoor 100m, and outdoor 4x100m relay. In total, Baker has claimed eight All-American honors in his career, with three coming in the indoor 60m. In addition to his title a year ago, the senior also finished second in the event in 2018 and third in 2017. This weekend, Baker is in a prime position to defend his 2019 crown, entering as the top qualifier in the 60m with a mark of 6.64 seconds that he set on Feb. 14 at the USATF Indoor Championships. Only three others in Division II have run a sub-6.70 race this season, a feat that Baker has accomplished nine times in his career.

Cameron Burrows also enters the championships at the top of Division II in an event, tying for the No. 1 spot in the high jump at 2.19 meters. The senior is undoubtedly one of the best athletes in all of Division II, as he also enters the weekend competing in the long jump (No. 7, 7.51 meters) and heptathlon (Tied at No. 7, 5,381 points). The 2.19m high jump mark set by Burrows and Minnesota State's Deveyonn Brown is significantly ahead of the rest of the field in the event, as no one else has jumped higher than 2.16 meters. In his career, Burrows has recorded seven All-American honors, four during indoor nationals, including his highest-ever finish last year at third in the high jump.

Joining Burrows in the long jump will be sophomore Quincy Scott, who enters as the fifth-ranked athlete in the event with a mark of 7.62 meters. Scott is within a tenth of a meter of qualifiers 2-4, while Lincoln's Ryan Brown leads the pack at 7.77 meters. This is Scott's third-straight qualification to nationals in the long jump, including an All-American seventh-place finish at the indoor championships a season ago. In addition to his 2019 outdoor qualification in the event, Scott was also a member of Tiffin's National Champion 4x100m relay squad in Kingsville.

The Dragons will also be looking for major points from its shot put crew with four athletes in the top 12 of the event ranks, led by junior Nikolas Curtiss at No. 2 with a top mark of 19.40 meters. Sophomore Jabari Bennett is right behind in third at 19.21 meters, followed by senior Eric Jackson in eighth at 17.97 meters and freshman Isaiah Allen 12th at 17.49 meters.

Curtiss has qualified for the third-straight indoor season and fifth time overall in his Tiffin career between the shot put and weight throw. Four of those qualifications resulted in shot put All-American honors, including a second-place finish at 2018 outdoors. At indoors, Curtiss finished 10th in 2018 and 4th in 2019. Bennett qualified for nationals in the shot put in both of his opportunities during his freshman campaign last year, earning a third-place finish and All-American honors at the 2019 indoor event. Curtiss and Bennett will look to unseat Missouri Southern's Rajindra Campbell, whose mark of 20.07 meters is the only better throw by any other DII athlete this season.

Jackson is seeded eighth in the shot put at 17.97 meters, but his PR of 18.72 meters would rank fifth. The senior set that mark at the 2018 Indoor Championships to earn a second-place finish and All-American honors. He also has a pair of outdoor All-American honors in the shot put (2017) and discus (2019), and this marks his seventh NCAA Championships qualification. Allen has certainly burst onto the national scene in his first collegiate season, entering the championships as the only freshman qualifier in the shot put. Allen will be looking to improve from his 12th-seeded position and into the top-8 to earn All-American status and points for the Dragons.

Errik Snell is back for his third attempt at All-American honors, as the senior also qualified two times in 2019 in the indoor 60m hurdles and outdoor 110m hurdles. Currently 14th in the 60m hurdles with a top time of 8.02 seconds, Snell is within .03 seconds of the top-10 and .09 seconds of the seventh-seeded athlete.

Collin Jasin is making his first-ever trip to a national meet after the sophomore cleared an indoor PR of 5.00 meters to win the GMAC pole vault title at the conference championships on Feb. 29. The mark obliterated his previous season-best of 4.84 meters, and secured the 14th-best mark entering the Indoor Championships.

Scouting the Field

There are only three teams sending an equal or higher number of entries to the championships than Tiffin as Colorado School of Mines leads with 15 entries, Grand Valley has 13, and Lincoln (Mo.) equals the Dragons with 11.

Lincoln currently tops the USTFCCCA ratings, and the Blue Tigers will heavily rely on their long and triple jump squads with a combined five top-3 rankings hoping to score big points. Ryan Brown is ranked No. 1 in both the long and triple jumps, Kizan David is second in triple and third in long, while Salif Mane is third in the triple.

Colorado Mines is second in the ratings, with nine of their 15 entries coming in distance events. Dylan Ko leads the distance squad, doubling up in the 3000m (No. 4) and 5000m (No. 5). Connor McLean will also enter the meet as the top-ranked performer in the heptathlon.

Angelo State is behind Tiffin in fourth and has nine entries to the championships, with eight of those nine ranked in the top-7 of their events entering the meet. Defending champs and fifth-ranked Ashland will look for big points from Trevor Bassitt, who is ranked No. 1 in the 60m hurdles and 400m, No. 2 in the 200m, and part of the Eagles' No. 3 4×400m Relay. The duo of Brent Fairbanks and Alex Hill are also ranked 2-3 in the weight throw.

The rest of the top-10, in order, consists of American International (seven entries, all distance), Missouri Southern (10 entries, nine in the field events), Grand Valley (13 entries), Central Missouri (seven entries), and Pittsburg State (nine entries).

Tiffin Men's Competition Schedule

*All times eastern