SAN ANGELO, Texas - Northwest Nazarene's Ashley Puga captured the NCAA Division II Outdoor Track & Field 800-meter national championship on Saturday evening as the Crusaders competed on the final day of championship action in San Angelo, Texas.  Joining Puga on the medal stand Saturday were Josh Heidegger, who finished second in the javelin, and Dallas Beaty who finished third in the 400-meter hurdles.

All three Crusaders earned All-American honors as Heidegger earned his second place finish with a personal-best toss of 223-02 and Beaty finished third in the hurdles in 52.05, breaking the NNU school record that he had set in Thursday's prelims.

Puga, who also won the NCAA D.II Indoor 800-meter championship in March, posted a winning time of 2:07.24, finishing ahead of Liz Palkie of Minnesota-Duluth (2:08.02) and Vanessa Lee of Pittsburg State (2:10.88).

"After being a little disappointed with the results of the 1500-meters, Ashley she really showed the heart of a champion to come back and win that title," commented NNU head coach John Spatz.  "What a great way to finish her career, she's just such a tremendous competitor."

"I'm excited and happy the way things turned out," Puga commented.  "It's been a great experience and I'm happy that we were able to bring so many athletes to the meet.  To win the 800-meters and be an All-American in the 1500-meters is just such a blessing.  I'm really happy for our whole team, we had some great efforts as a group this week."

Puga also earned All-American recognition in the 1500-meters, finishing 8th in 4:35.45.  Lakiesha Niles finished 14th in the women's javelin with a throw of 119-06 on Saturday afternoon.

"It was an up and down day, she (Puga) really got boxed in in the 1500-meter race and had to fight her way out of the crowd," commented NNU assistant coach Ben Gall.  "But to bounce back in the 800-meters was impressive and really an encouragement to win that first outdoor title."

"Josh had two really good throws and had a great series today," Spatz added on Heidegger's javelin efforts.  "He launched the big one in the middle and really put the pressure on the field, so that was fun to watch."  

Heidegger finished just behind winner Felipe Ortiz from Puerto Rico Mayaguez (225-02).  

"I'm really pleased with today's results," Heidegger commented.  "The prelim throw that moved me into the finals was with a three-step approach and both my big throws today were with full approaches, so I was really excited about that.  My shoulder injury had really limited my full approaches this season, so to be able to open up and let it loose today was fun."

The NNU men's team finished 16th overall as Beaty and Heidegger scored 14 team points, while the Crusader ladies were 24th with 11 team points.  

"To move our program into the top-20 nationally is huge," Heidegger added.  "I feel this was a big step for us and the entire program.  To have a pair of seniors like Dallas and Ashley to look up to has been great, a real pair of role models to motivate us and show us the right way to do things."