By Steve Holt, Copy Editor
ACU made its mark on one of America’s oldest and largest track and field events last weekend, qualifying one women’s runner automatically and a men’s relay provisionally for nationals. Only two individual athletes and three relay teams participated in the Penn Relays Carnival in Philadelphia Thursday-Saturday, but freshman distance runner Yuliya Stashkiv qualified automatically and the men’s 4×400-meter relay team qualified provisionally for the Division II Outdoor National Championships.
Stashkiv participated in her self-professed favorite event, the 3,000-meter run, placing fourth with a Division II-leading time of 9:34.82. The Ukrainian needed only to run 9:40 in the event to automatically qualify but was able to run faster due in part to a fast field of the nation’s best distance runners.
“Yuliya competed well,” head coach Jon Murray said. “You won’t find another quality 3,000-meter race like that, so she did well.”
Stashkiv is now ranked No. 1 in the nation in the 1,500- and 3,000-meter runs, but Murray said a national title is never automatic.
“She was ranked No. 1 in two events during indoor season, and she didn’t do that well at nationals,” Murray said. “It comes down to how she performs on that day.”
The men’s 4×400-meter relay team, which included freshmen Elton Garus-Oab, Ricardo Johnson, Cory Aguilar and Delt Cockrell, finally established a provisional qualifying mark for nationals, placing fifth in the college men’s division amid primarily Division I powerhouses. The relay team ran 3:13.04, barely breaking the provisional standard of 3:14.
Cockrell, freshman Danieal Manning, junior Christie VanWyk and senior Nic Alexander composed the 4×100-meter relay team that placed third in its heat with a time of 40.86. The time was fractions of a second slower than the team’s time of 40.55 at the Oliver Jackson Open March 22, which was a provisional mark.
The men’s 4xMile team placed 12th among top Division I teams with a time of 16:58.41, which averages out to be four mile splits of 4:14.6. The team was made up of junior Jean-Marie Ndikumana, sophomore Bernard Manirakiza, sophomore Martin O’Kello and junior Arthemon Sindayigaya. The distance medley relay team, which includes a 400-, 800-, 1,200- and 1,600-meter legs, placed 13th in 9:50.49.
VanWyk was entered as the second-fastest 100-meter runner in the meet but didn’t qualify for the finals after hurting his groin in the prelims.
This Friday and Saturday, ACU will play host to the Lone Star Conference Champion-ships at Elmer Gray Stadium. A complete preview of the meet will appear in Friday’s Optimist.
