St. Thomas Aquinas College Men's Track & Field sprinter, St. Jacob Diodonet and jumper, Dante Brown participated in their respective events on the first day of competition at NCAA Division II Outdoor Championships on Thursday in Kingsville, Texas.
No stranger to NCAA Championships, Diodonet (Sr./West Milford, N.J.), closes his 4-year collegiate career for the Spartans having taken part in now six national meets (4 indoor and 2 outdoor). In his final National Championship, Saint took to the track in the 400 Meter Dash, where he finished 14th with a time of 47.69. St. Jacob finished his tenure as one of the most decorated track & field athletes in the program's history, having received multiple All-Conference, All-Region and All-American selections during his time in Sparkill.
In his first National meet, Brown (So./Nyack, N.Y.) competed in the Long Jump, where with temperatures hovering in the mid-80's, he took a 15th place finish with a leap of 7.37 Meters (24'2.25"). Dante closes out his second year as a Spartan with All-Conference and All-Region honors in both the indoor and outdoor seasons, along with making program history at this year's Penn Relay as part of the 4x100 Meter Relay Team (Brown, Diodonet, Jarrett Millien & Jaren Scott), which made the collegiate final for the first time.
The Spartans final competitor in the 2019 NCAA Division II National Championship, Rickssen Opont (RJr./Nyack, NY), will get one more day to get a few final practice throws in, before he takes to the cage for real on Saturday evening in the Men's Shot Put Event. Opont and his opponents are expected to get underway in their event at approximately 6:05pm EDT/5:05pm CDT. You can watch Rickssen in his championship chase LIVE on NCAA.com
NCAA Division II Outdoor Track & Field Championships
Watch LIVE on NCAA.com: May 25th
About Host Texas A&M University - Kingsville & Javelina Stadium