Illinois State junior Tim Glover successfully defended his title from a year ago, claiming his second-straight NCAA Division I National Title in the javelin with a throw of 268-00 (81.69m), at Drake Stadium. In addition, Brittany Smith had her highest finish at the NCAA Championships, finishing second in the hammer throw with a mark of 224-07, and she also posted a second-place finish in the shot put with a throw of 58-04.75.

Glover started the day off for the Redbirds as the 11th thrower in flight one of the javelin prelims, opening up with a throw of 241-00, sliding him into third place. He bettered that mark on his second attempt (247-05), but failed to increase his placing. He would hold that mark, heading into the finals as the No. 3 thrower of both flights and would be the seventh thrower in rotation.

On his first throw of the finals, Glover set the tone for the remainder of the competition, hitting a career-best mark of 268-00 (81.69 m), breaking both the Illinois State and Missouri Valley Conference records, while remaining the No. 9 performer all-time in NCAA history. That mark improves his previous American and collegiate leading mark of 266-09 this season by more than a foot, and was just 31 centimeters off the London Olympic A standard of 82.00 m.

Glover edged out Sam Humphreys of Texas A&M by 7 feet, allowing him to become just the second Redbird to repeat as a national champion at the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships, the first being Tom Smith in the high jump in 1987 and 1988.