The Wildcats won 10 conference medals in Birmingham at the Southland Conference Indoor Championships last weekend.
Daniel Block, senior distance runner from Saskatchewan, Canada, and Rosen Daniel, freshman sprinter from Castries, St. Lucia, are the first Wildcats to win individual Div. I Southland Conference titles for ACU men’s team.
Block gained a personal record this weekend with his 800-meter-race victory while claiming the seventh-fastest time in ACU history with a time of 1:50.01.
Block was runner-up in this race last year at the indoor championships, but finished the race almost two seconds ahead of second place finisher this time around.
“This meet played out exactly like I envisioned it all season,” Block said. “After wasting an opportunity to win it last year, I wasn’t settling for anything less than a victory this year.”
Daniel came in as the No. 1 runner in the 200-meter race with a time of 21.32 and finished less than a second behind first and second place winners, Cass Brown-Stewart of Stephen F. Austin University and Rodney Jones of Sam Houston State University, in the men’s 400-meter.
The men came out with an overall fifth place finish out of 13 conference teams.
On the women’s team, Kimone Green, freshman from St. Elizabeth, Jamaica, was a power house. Green put up 28 points in four events to contribute to the team’s final score of 70 points, which landed them a solid fourth-place finish.
She had four top-five finishes and three personal bests, resulting in a first-place victory in the women’s 400-meter dash and ninth in ACU history.
Green earned the second-fastest hurdle time in the ACU record books with a time of 8.72 and the fourth-fastest time in the women’s 200-meter dash finishing at 24.39.
Diana Garcia Muñoz, sophomore from Phoenix, claimed a personal record in the women’s mile with a time of 4:57.53 while also taking a 10th place rank in the ACU record books.
Team members said they feel fortunate to be able to run with teammates of such high caliber.
“We had some outstanding performances from some amazing athletes,” Block said. “It’s so much fun getting to share a track and be on the same team as these guys and girls.”
The men’s team improved from sixth place to fifth this year at the indoor championships while the women jumped up five places from their ninth place finish last year.
Seniors such as Block are leaders to newcomers like Daniel and Green, who have contributed to the successful last week.
“It’s easy to bring your ‘A’ game when you’re trying to help a team like the one we have here,” Block said.
The Wildcats will compete this weekend in their last indoor meet at the Texas Tech Open.
