T-Bird (W-Track) Finishes 3rd at Indoor Championships

The NMJC women's track & field team finished in third place Saturday, March 8 at the 2025 NJCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships in Lubbock, Texas.

The T-Birds accumulated 86 points to finish one spot behind Barton CC (105) and two spots behind national champion Iowa Western (114).

The Thunderbirds concluded Day 2 with 12 more individual All-Americans, two relay All-American squads, and one individual national champion.

Thrower Tania Millena Ancelmo Da Silva was crowned the weight throw national champion in back-to-back years. The Porto Alegre, Brazil native dominated the competition by 1.98m with her throw of 20.70m. Millena Ancelmo Da Silva joined jumper Tiana Petrova (High Jump) as the only other T-Bird individual national champion this week at the Texas Tech Sports Performance Center.

Saturday produced three national runners-up for the women's team.

The 4x800 squad of Daphne Kausz, Tyfane Martins, Francesca Alvarado, and Emilly Silva finished national runner-up in the race with a time of 9:16.03 to earn All-American honors. 

Jody Ann Mitchell was the national runner-up in the 600m with a time of 1:32.55. Mitchell finished the weekend with three All-American medals. 

Sophomore sprinter Nandy Kihuyu finished national runner-up in the 400m with a school record time of 54.00. The finish was .11 seconds behind first place. Kihuyu finishes the weekend with two All-American distinctions.    

"Anytime a team finishes on the podium is a great accomplishment. While we were hoping for more, I know that our athletes have learned and will grow from the experience and use that for the outdoor season to be even better," women's track & field head coach Kathleen Raske said. "We had some great performances and lifetime bests, especially, our champions with Tania, Tiana, DMR, and runners up in our 4x800 and Nandy in the 400m and Jody Ann in the 600m."  

Kamaria Knight ran a career-best time of 23.89 in the 200m to place fifth at nationals. Knight also earned All-American honors in the mile relay. 

Amal Kachouri placed in both the 800m and the mile on Saturday. Kachouri finished the 800m in sixth place with a time of 2:14.62. The Tunisian earned another-sixth place finish in the mile coming in at 5:09.13. 

Ysanne Peart joined Jody Ann Mitchell in the 600m as an All-American with her sixth-place finish. The sophomore finished the race in a career-best time of 1:35.63.

The mile relay squad of Nandy Kihuyu, Kamaria Knight, Jody Ann Mitchell, and Tuwana McLean placed sixth at indoor nationals for the second consecutive year with a time of 3:44.43.

Emilly Silva was a warrior this week in Lubbock medaling in four different events. The sophomore finished in seventh place in the 800m with a time of 2:15.51 and eighth place in the 1000m with a finish of 3:10.05. Silva earned All-American status in the DMR, 4x800m, 800m, and the 1000m.

Athilia Pryce was a big surprise for NMJC in the weight throw. The freshman thrower surpassed her previous best throw by .70m to earn seventh place at nationals with a toss of 15.63m. 

Freshman Janita Antipina triple jumped her way to seventh place in the event with a leap of 11.79m. Distance runner Francesca Alvarado grabbed a point in the mile with her eighth-place finish. The sophomore came across the line in her final indoor race in 5:10.46.

The USTFCCCA Regional Awards were announced on Saturday with the Thunderbirds earning four trophies. Tania Millena Da Silva was named the Women's West Region Field Athlete of the Year, Amal Kachouri picked up Women's West Region Track Athlete of the Year, Coach Raske earned Women's West Region Coach of the Year, and Coach Becker was awarded Women's West Assistant Coach of the Year.

"I look forward to the outdoor season and capitalizing on the events that are more of our strength and expect our team to be extremely motivated to go after the title and making the necessary adjustments," Coach Raske said. "I'm proud of the ladies and know that if we work hard together and continue the path of improving good things will happen!"

The Thunderbirds will receive some much needed rest and get back into action with the start of the outdoor season at the ACU Wes Kittley Invite in Abilene, Texas March 21-22.