By Michael Freeman, Assistant Sports Editor
The Texas Tech Invitational on Saturday was a walk in the park for ACU; 11 Wildcats qualified for next month’s NCAA Division II outdoor championship meet in Walnut, Calif.
“It was a much better week,” said head coach Don Hood. “Just another step in the right direction.”
The ACU men’s 4×100 relay team had more than a step on the competition as the team of Andrew McDowell, Raymond Radway, Desmond Jackson and Jordan Johnson won the event with a time of 39.97 – the best time in NCAA Division II track and field this season.
The time marked only the third time since 1998 that an ACU sprint relay team posted a time in under 40 seconds. The 39.97 mark also is the 13th-best collegiate time in the nation this season. All four runners received automatic qualifying bids to the national meet.
“It’s huge; that put us at No. 1 in the nation,” Johnson said. “We have a lot more confidence. We’re not just hoping we’re fast; now we know we’re fast.”
Johnson and Radway also provisionally qualified in both the 200-meter and the 400-meter events. Jackson provisionally qualified in the 200-meter run.
Also for the men, Julius Nyango provisionally qualified as he won in the 800-meter with a time of 1:51.98. Daniel Maina conquered the 3,000-meter steeplechase with a provisional qualifying time of 9:17.76, the fourth-best NCAA Division II time in the nation.
For the women, Shawna-Kaye Thompson returned to the track for the first time this season, and provisionally qualified in the 100-meter hurdles and 400-meter hurdles.
“I’m glad [to be back],” Thompson said. “I’ve been hurt so I haven’t been practicing a lot. But I’m pretty proud of what I did despite not to have been practicing for so many weeks.”
Keva Wilkins and Azraa Rounds automatically qualified for the 400-meters as they turned in NCAA Division II-best times of 53.54 and 54.47. Loice Cheboi and Winrose Karunde both
qualified in the 5,000-meters, and triple-jumper Destinee Nixon won her event with a provisional qualifying mark of 38-11.75.
The ACU track teams will be in Waco on Friday and Saturday to compete in the Michael Johnson Classic.
