MANKATO, Minn. – Sophomore Nick Lebron (Newington, Conn.) of the No. 3 nationally ranked Southern Connecticut State University men's indoor track and field team won the NCAA Division II National Championships in the heptathlon. The NCAA Division II Championship meet was held on the Minnesota State campus in Mankato, Minn. Lebron finished the event with a total of 5225 points and becomes the 19th NCAA Championship for the Owls' indoor track and field team since Dan Bourque won both the 35-pound weight and hammer throw titles during the 1998 season. He is also the 73rd individual NCAA title recipient in the program's history.

After day one, Lebron was in third place with 2888 points through four events. He managed to finish ninth in the 60 meter dash with a time of 7.39, eight in the long jump with a leap of 6.39 meters, and fourth in the shot put with a heave of 12.08 meters. As day one came to a close, he claimed first in the high jump to boost his score by 859 points with a height cleared of 2.06 meters.

At the start of day two, he opened with a fourth place finish in the 60 hurdles with a time of 8.35 followed by an eighth place score in the pole vault reaching the mark of 3.90 meters. In the final event, Lebron managed a second place time of 2:47.10 in the 1,000 meters to claim victory and his first ever NCAA Division II National Championship.

Lebron came into the meet ranked 11^th on the national leaderboard for the heptathlon with a score of 5002 achieved just a few weeks ago at the NEICAAA Indoor Track and Field Championships. With this score, he improves upon a school record broken twice this season by both himself and Connor Coleman (Gunnison, Colo.). Fellow teammate, Coleman, finished just a few points behind with a respectable third in the heptathlon event with a total of 5087 improving upon his season best of 5047 achieved at the NEICAAA Indoor Track and Field Championships on Feb. 24.