By Steve Holt, Sports Writer
Twenty-four Wildcat track and field athletes will represent the university March 11-12 at Boston’s Reggie Lewis Center for the 2005 NCAA Division II Indoor Championships. The final list of qualifiers, released at noon on Tuesday, ranked the top Division II performers in 15 events. Thirteen ACU men qualified in 10 events, while 11 women qualified in nine events.
Head coach Jon Murray said he thinks the qualifiers list turned out to be in ACU’s favor.
“We got a lot of people in [to nationals] that I didn’t really think we would, honestly,” he said. “I see pretty much everyone scoring in their events.”
The men’s team will try to defend its indoor title in Boston, while the women’s team will attempt to improve on a fourth-place finish a year ago.
Several ACU men or relay teams have the nation’s top times or marks going into nationals. Murray said one of the more important events of the meet for earning points will be the men’s triple jump, where Wildcats Ben Washington, Vladyslav Gorbenko, and Yevgen Pashchenko are ranked 1-2-3 going into the meet. An ACU sweep in the event would earn the men’s team a big 24 points toward the final score.
South African transfer Lucky Hadebe has the top entering times in the 800-meter run and the mile, both of which will be close races.
Freshman Nicodemus Naimadu, who claimed the Division II cross country title in the fall, is the favorite to win the 5,000-meter run in Boston. Adam State senior Celedonio Rodriguez, who won the 2003 cross country title, will pressure Naimadu, however, as they are two of only three runners to break 14 minutes in the event this season.
Junior Cory Aguilar will be shooting for his first national title in the pole vault, but he will have to surpass three vaulters who have cleared 17 feet and one who has cleared 18 feet.
Pashchenko is ranked No. 2 in the nation in the long jump and is seeking his first national title in that event.
The men’s 4×400-meter and distance medley relay teams are both ranked No. 1 in the nation.
In the sprints, sophomore Marvin Bien-Aime enters the national meet with the fifth-best 200-meter time, while Marvin Essor has the No. 2 400-meter time.
Additional men’s qualifiers include Ricardo Johnson in the 400-meter dash, Martin O’Kello in the 800-meter run, Laurant Ngirakamaro in the 5,000-meter run, Delt Cockrell in the 200-meter dash, and Bernard Manirakiza in the mile.
On the women’s side, the pole vault and middle distance events likely will be the big points-earners for the Wildcats.
Plenty of purple will be visible in both the pole vault and the mile, each of which include three ACU athletes.
Sophomore Angie Aguilar, along with seniors Val Gorter and Katie Eckley will attempt to continue the phenomenal ACU success in the event in recent years. They will have to surpass one athlete who has cleared 13 feet, however, in order to continue the ACU dominance in the event.
In the women’s mile, Olha Kryv’yak, Trina Cox, and Addeh Mwamba will look to earn points for their team.
Kryv’yak’s progression in the event, however, is most astonishing considering her near-death heat stroke during a cross country practice in 2003.
Freshman Shawna-Kaye Thompson has qualified in three events: the 60-meter dash, the 60-meter hurdles, and the 200-meter dash.
Denise Morgan and Mwamba both qualified in the 800-meter run, while Brooklyn Hunt made it into the field of 400-meter runners.
The women’s 4×400-meter and distance medley relays, though not as dominant as the men’s, will get their shot against the nation’s best in Boston. This season is the first in which the distance medley relay is an event at the indoor and outdoor national meets.
Murray said he anticipates great things happening in Boston.
“We’re in a great position, and we just need to be relaxed,” he said.
