The Optimist
  • Home
  • About
    • Advertise
    • Policies
    • Staff Contacts
    • Jobs
  • News
  • Sports
  • Opinion
    • Columns
    • Editorials
  • Multimedia
    • Photo Galleries
    • Videos
  • Features
  • Print Edition
    • The Pessimist
    • Special Projects
  • Police Log
  • Classifieds
You are here: Home / Sports / ACU track continues to qualify

ACU track continues to qualify

February 7, 2007 by Jared Fields

By Jared Fields, Managing Editor

“It didn’t start off with a bang but it sure ended with one,” Hood said. “I think everyone came back and realized we’re going to be really good.”

The Wildcats automatically qualified for two events at the national meet at the Frank Sevigne Husker Invitational in Lincoln, Neb. last weekend.

The women’s distance medley relay team finished behind Washington State by less than half a second to take second with a time of 11:49.14, a time Hood said was the best in Div. II.

The men’s distance medley won with a provisional qualifying time of 9:57.38. Hood said a bad handoff between Matt Pugh and Julius Nyango set the team back, but Nyango closed the gap and kept the team in second going into the final handoff to Nicodemus Naimadu.

“Nicodemus had a whole mile to make up 10 yards. He ended up running a 4:06 mile to catch [Washington State],” Hood said.

Naimadu won the relay by 20 yards.

“To make up that much time and beat the guy by that much. It was just really neat to see him do that.” he said.

Naimadu won the mile and provisionally qualified with a 4:07.81. Nyango also provisionally qualified in the mile, finishing sixth, with a time of 4:10.88.

Johnny Jacob also automatically qualified in the 400-meters with a time of 47.57 in the finals to finish third.

Jacob also anchored the men’s 4×400 relay team, with Hood clocking his split at 46.7.

“He has a lot of character. He ran three 400s in a row and came out [Monday] and had a great practice,” he said.

Completing the men’s 4×400 relay were Marvin Bien-Aime, Andrew McDowell and Mark Paige. The relay finished seventh but provisionally qualified with a time of 3:16.86.

The women’s 4×400 also posted a provisional mark with a time of 3:45.95 and a fourth place finish. Hood said their time puts them third in Div. II.

Wilkins, the starter in the 4×400 relay, provisionally qualified in the 400-meters with a time of 55.63. Wilkins’ time was good for fourth at the meet.

Two other women provisionally qualified in the 400-meters: Azraa Rounds (56.53) and Venessa Whittle (56.80).

Kim Prather and Shawna-Kaye Thompson, both members of the 4×400 relay, provisionally qualified in two other events. Prather provisionally qualified in the 60-meter sprint at 7.7 seconds and in the 200-meters with a time of 24.67 in the preliminaries.

Thompson provisionally qualified in the 200-meters and the 60-meter hurdles. Thompson posted a 25.00 time in the 200 and a personal best time of 8.66 seconds in the hurdles. She missed the automatic qualifying time by one-hundredth of a second.

“I ran my best, but I think I can do better,” Thompson said.

Rounding out the qualifiers from this weekend’s meet were triple jumpers Vladyslav Gorbenko and Davy Manga. Gorbenko won the triple jump with a distance of 51-04.25, good for the second-best distance in Div. II. Manga is behind Gorbenko at third in the nation after placing fourth with a jump of 50-06.25.

The Wildcats will split its teams into three groups this weekend when they travel to Arkansas, Iowa State or Texas Tech.

Filed Under: Sports Tagged With: Track & Field

Other Sports:

  • Out with the WAC, in with the UAC

  • Women’s golf drives for success despite young mid-major status

  • More than money: FBS games bring in revenue, impact program

About Jared Fields

You are here: Home / Sports / ACU track continues to qualify

Other Sports:

  • Out with the WAC, in with the UAC

  • Women’s golf drives for success despite young mid-major status

  • More than money: FBS games bring in revenue, impact program

Follow us online

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Optimist on Twitter

Retweet on Twitter The Optimist Retweeted
optimistsports Optimist Sports @optimistsports ·
26 Jun

The United Athletic Conference is officially taking the place of the Western Athletic Conference in the 2026-2027 athletic year. The UAC is a joint football effort between the WAC and the ASUN but will now extend to all sports. #acuoptimist #acuathletics #wac #uac

Reply on Twitter 1938240320854008109 Retweet on Twitter 1938240320854008109 2 Like on Twitter 1938240320854008109 7 Twitter 1938240320854008109
Retweet on Twitter The Optimist Retweeted
ashleyh1607 Ashley Henderson @ashleyh1607 ·
3 Jun

My second year at ACU was full of opportunities that grew me as an individual and a journalist.

In my first year as editor in chief of @acuoptimist, we published six print issues, filmed a 3-hour live election show, and revamped our newscast, all while producing news weekly.

Reply on Twitter 1929734328445178254 Retweet on Twitter 1929734328445178254 1 Like on Twitter 1929734328445178254 1 Twitter 1929734328445178254

Optimist on Facebook

The Optimist

1 years ago

The Optimist

Video

View on Facebook
· Share

Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Linked In Share by Email

The Optimist

2 years ago

The Optimist
"Ending my college education early was always the plan for me, but the things that I have been able to see, experience and examine about ACU’s community were not. I have found immense growth in ACU over the past three and a half years, but ACU still has a long road to climb if it wants to keep catering to students as the world changes around them." To read more of this article visit acuoptimist.com or click the link in our bio. #acu #abilenechristianuniversity #privatechristianuniversity #collegestudentopinion #acuopinion ... See MoreSee Less

Photo

View on Facebook
· Share

Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Linked In Share by Email

Videos

Optimist Newscast Feb. 28, 2024

Our top stories today include a recap of The Musical Comedy Murders of 1940, the ... [Read More…]

  • Optimist Newscast Feb. 21, 2024
  • Optimist Newscast Feb. 14, 2024
  • Optimist Newscast Jan. 24, 2024

Latest Photos

  • Home
  • About
    • Contact
    • Subscribe
    • Policies
    • Advertising Policy
    • Letters to the Editor and Reader Comments
  • News
  • Sports
  • Opinion
    • Columns
    • Editorials
  • Multimedia
    • Videos
    • Photo Galleries
  • Features
  • Advertise
    • Paid Advertisement
  • Police Log

© 2025 ACU Optimist · All Rights Reserved