Albert Einstein once said, “The only source of knowledge is experience.” If that is the case, four ACU track-and-field athletes should consider themselves scholars when it comes to competing at the NCAA Division II Indoor National Championship Meet.
Those four in particular – Amos Sang, Desmond Jackson, Nick Jones and Ramon Sparks have all had experience competing at the national meet and are poised to represent ACU to the best of their abilities Friday and Saturday.
“I am pumped for this meet,” said Jackson, a senior. “This being my senior year, I am even more motivated to execute and perform to the best of my abilities and represent ACU the best I can. I plan on doing whatever it takes to succeed.”
In the Nebraska Tune-Up Meet in February, Jackson stole the show, eclipsing the national automatic qualifying times in both the 60- and 200-meter dash.
Jackson, from Midland, will compete for the fourth year in a row at nationals this year. That experience, as he says, will pay huge dividends for his last go-around Friday.
“I feel like I kind of know what’s going on, and because of that, my nerves haven’t really kicked in yet. My goal? I’m going to put my hand down, run and hopefully be the first man across the finish line,” he said.
Sparks, senior triple jumper, will also be making his third appearance at the national meet, and will see action for the first time in over a month, as he chose to play it safe at the Nebraska Tune-Up because he had already qualified for nationals at the Texas Tech meet in early February with a jump of 51′-10′,’ a jump that garnered him the top spot among Division II competitors.
Sophomore triple jumper Amanda Ouedraogo will be competing in her first national meet after qualifying with a jump of 11.99 meters. Ouedraogo, a transfer student from France, has thoroughly impressed Head Coach Roosevelt Lofton with her performances.
“Amanda continues to astound me with how well she has done. This is her first year competing in American track and field meets, and she has not disappointed. She’d done a fantastic job for us,” he said.
Jones, a junior thrower, is looking to build upon his already impressive resume with another national championship in the shot put. The Amarillo native automatically qualified with a heave of 55-9.75 in a previous meet.
Arguably one of the best to ever come through the esteemed ACU track and field program, Amos Sang will look to add upon his lengthy list of accomplishments in the purple and white Friday. Sang will compete in the 5,000 meter and one mile race in Albuquerque, N.M.
Lofton said his team has good chances at the weekend meet.
“I am very excited about the national meet,” he said. “We have some phenomenal athletes that will be competing, and I can’t wait to see them perform. On the men’s side of things, half of our guys we’re sending out there have won national titles. I’m looking forward to building upon that number in Albuquerque.”
