DELAWARE, Ohio — Lenore Moreno has done it again.
On the first day of the 2014 NCAA Division III Outdoor Track and Field Championships on Thursday, Moreno claimed the national title in the 10,000 meters with a winning time of 34 minutes, 25.39 seconds.
The title by Moreno is the seventh outdoor track and field national championship in La Verne history and the third by a La Verne woman. Moreno is the first to win a track event for the women.
Moreno and the defending national champion Nicole Michmerhuizen of Calvin (Mich.) got out to an early lead and it became a two-woman race almost immediately.
Michmerhuizen held an ever-so-slight lead from the start, but Moreno was almost quite literally on her heels and kept pace.
Then, at about the 25-minute mark and with seven-and-a-half laps to go, Moreno turned on her jets and made her move.
It wasn't close the rest of the way.
Not only did she run past Michmerhuizen, but Moreno also surged to about a 100-meter lead that she would not relinquish. And by the time she finished the race, Moreno had lapped all but three competitors of the field of 22.
The race was eerily similar to the 5,000 meters at the 2014 indoor national championships in March. Michmerhuizen got out to an early lead in that event as well, but Moreno rushed past her mid-race, extended the lead and was crowned the champion.
Moreno came into the race as the top seed after clocking the third fast Division III time ever (33:49.04) at the Stanford Invitational in April. While she couldn't best that mark on Thursday, Moreno did set a new stadium record with her race.
On the field, Deanna Doss and Katie Yeager narrowly missed out on earning All-America honors after placing just outside of the top eight in their respective events. Doss recorded a toss of 170 feet, 9 inches (52.60 meters) in the hammer throw to come in ninth and Yeager placed 10th in the pole vault after clearing 11-09.75 (3.60m).
The women's 4x100m relay team of Ebony Williams, Tiahna Gillon, Tanesha Spencer and Nicole Crutchfield placed 15th with at time of 48.11 and did not qualify for the final.
Moreno will look to win yet another national title in the 5,000 meters on Saturday at 4:45 p.m. EDT/1:45 p.m. PDT.
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