By Steve Holt, Sports Writer
The men’s 4×400-meter relay team posted an automatic qualifying time for nationals Saturday, crossing the line less than two seconds after the squad from Texas Tech at the Wes Kittley Classic in Lubbock.
ACU’s relay team, which included Delt Cockrell, Ricardo Johnson, Marvin Bien-Aime and Marvin Essor, posted the nation’s top time, 3:10.17, on its way to the second-place finish.
In total, the Wildcats racked up 13 new or better qualifying times or marks for the NCAA Division II Indoor National Championships, to be run March 11-12 in Boston.
“I think we started in a great place,” said head coach Jon Murray. “If we keep building on that foundation, we’ll just keep getting better and better.”
Junior Yevgen Pashchenko continued to compete well in the triple jump, improving his provisional mark to a near-automatic 51-2.
Senior All-American pole-vaulters Val Gorter and Katie Eckley finished in a tie for fifth place in their event, clearing a provisional qualifying height of 11-6. In the men’s pole vault, junior Cory Aguilar improved his provisional qualifying mark to 16-7, tying for second in the event.
Freshman Shauna-Kaye Thompson just missed an automatic qualifying mark in the 55-meter hurdles, running 8.11 seconds in the preliminaries and then winning the final in 8.12.
Sophomore Brooklyn Hunt qualified provisionally in the 400-meter dash with a fourth-place time of 56.67. In the men’s 400-meter dash, Marvin Essor improved his qualifying time to 48.06, winning the event.
Newcomer Lucky Hadebe won his first 800-meter race with a provisional qualifying time of 1:51.58, while Jessica Hunt improved her time in the 200 meters to 25.19.
The women’s 4×400-meter relay team improved its provisional time, winning its event with a top time of 3:49.62.
In the only non-nationals event of the day, the 3,000-meter run, ACU distance runners dominated, with freshman Nicodemus Naimadu winning in 8:18.09 and teammate Laurent Ngirakamaro placing second in 8:40,43. Both Naimadu and Ngirakamaro look to be contenders in the 5,000 meters, an event that will be run at nationals.
Through three indoor meets, ACU has qualified 21 individuals or relays for nationals. The Wildcat track and field teams will compete in Lubbock again this Saturday at the Wes Kittley Invitational, and Murray said both teams will continue to work hard at practice and the early meets to be ready for indoor nationals and the outdoor season.
“These are all opportunities to compete in a good environment,” he said. “We’re just doing the work we need to do [at practice], just like everyone is.”
