By Jared Fields, Editor in Chief
One athlete highlighted the Wildcats’ weekend at the Michael Johnson Invitational at Baylor.
Raymond Radway posted the second best time in Division II with a 46.24 in the 400-meters.
“I ran my race,” Radway said. “I knew it was fast; I thought it was gonna be a 46-high, but then I saw it was 46-low and I got kinda excited.”
Head coach Don Hood shared Radway’s excitement, and said Radway is rounding into form after beating his previous best time by six-tenths of a second.
“Radway looked like a stud. He finally ran close to what his potential is,” Hood said. “[Baylor’s Marcus Boyd] beat him at
our meet two weeks ago, so this was kinda a nice payback.”
Radway’s time is the second best in the nation, behind Johnson C. Smith’s Leford Green who has a 45.56.
“I’m trying to go for that No. 1 spot,” Radway said. “I know Jordan [Johnson] is going to push me in practice, so we can get it.”
Johnson, who won the outdoor 400-meter championships in 2006 with a time of 46.24, and Radway compete every day in practice and Hood said the rivalry between the teammates is benefiting both. Johnson ran the 400-meters in another heat, but finished with a time of 47.38 from lane eight.
“They like each other and they’re helping each other,
but, they line up by each other in practice and say, ‘let’s go,'” Hood said. “And that’s good; you can’t beat that.”
Hood said the only downside for the men’s team came when freshman Desmond Jackson pulled up on his 100-meter heat with a strained hamstring.
“It started out with a bummer when Desmond strained his hamstring,” Hood said. “He jogged [Monday] and will be
OK. I think conference will be pushing it.”
However, Hood said he felt the rest of the men’s team performed well.
Bradley Tatum provisionally qualified with a jump of 16- 0.75, becoming the fifth ACU pole vaulter to qualify for the national outdoor meet.
Daniel Maina and Julius Nyango finished one-hundredth of a second apart with times of 1:51.38 and 1:51.39, respectively. Those times rank them third and fourth in the nation.
On the women’s side, Jessica Withrow provisionally qualified in the high jump with a height of 5-7.00. Azraa Rounds posted a provisional qualifying time in the 200-meters with a 24.67.
Mary Mwangi bettered her time in the 800-meters with a time of 2:10.85, which ranks her sixth in the country.
With the Lone Star Conference meet less than two weeks away, Hood said he likes the direction his team is heading down the final weeks of the season.
“I think we’re working in the right way and we’re coming around at the right time,” Hood said. “Year in and year out we’ve shown that at the end of the year we’re gonna run fast. If we stay healthy we’re gonna do some good things.”
