MARION, Ind. -- Senior Thomas Collet made history Friday afternoon with a NAIA National Championship in the Men's Long Jump at the NAIA Outdoor Track and Field National Championships hosted by Indiana Wesleyan University.

The NAIA national title for Collet is the fourth in track history for Indiana Wesleyan and the second men's title. Collet becomes the first IWU men's student-athlete to capture an individual championship as the other national title was the Men's 4 x 800-Meter Relay in 2008.

Collet brings Indiana Wesleyan its fifth overall national title in school history. Besides the four track titles, Indiana Wesleyan won the NAIA Division II women's basketball championship in 2007.

Collet nearly missed the finals but squeaked in by tying for the final spot with three others to send 12 to the finals, instead of the normal nine. He earned a mark of 7.09-meters in his heat to qualify for three more jumps in the finals after the judges decided to let all four jumpers advance instead of using a tie-breaking method.

"(The officials) were taking a really long time trying to figure out which tiebreaker process to go with," said Collet. "I knew I had to stay loose so I treated it as if I was going to advance. Eventually they said all four of us were moving on (to the finals)."

On his first jump in the finals, Collet made what would be enough for first place and the national championship as his mark of 7.44-meters was not matched. Collet increased his distance on his final jump with a measure of 7.61-meters (24-11.75) to win by 0.2-meters (7.5 inches).

With the victory in the long jump, Collet was credited with 10 points for Indiana Wesleyan.

"I couldn't end my senior season any better," added Collet. "My best jump in the biggest event of the year, I couldn't be happier."

CLICK HERE for full NAIA Men's Long Jump results