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A clean sweep

Abilene Christian makes NCAA history by capturing men's, women's titles in both indoor and outdoor track

BY SALLY HUGGINS
STAFF WRITER

A historic accomplishment by Abilene Christian University leads a long list of achievements in 1995-96 NCAA championships.

Abilene Christian became the first school in NCAA history to sweep the men's and women's indoor and outdoor track championships in the same year.

The Wildcat men's track team has claimed a Division II record eight outdoor championships to go with four indoor titles. The women's team this year tied the record for outdoor championships with six.

Indoors, Abilene Christian's men won their third championship in four years, and did so easily, scoring nearly twice as many points as runner-up St. Augustine's College.

The women's indoor team won its eighth championship in nine years. Three freshmen women won individual events at the outdoor championships -- Tracey Barnes in the 400-meter dash, Delloreen Ennis in the 100-meter hurdles and Jaime Hallmark in the high jump.

Three Abilene Christian track athletes will compete in the Summer Olympics in Atlanta for their home countries (several tried out for the U.S. team but did not qualify). Mary Tombiri-Shirey, winner of the 100-meter dash, will compete for Nigeria; Andy Kokhanovsky, ranked third in the nation in the discus, will compete for the Ukraine; and Robert Guy, who won the 400-meter dash, will run for Trinidad.

Tombiri-Shirey headed the list of individual champions at the women's outdoor track and field championships, winning her second consecutive 100-meter dash title. She also placed second in the 200-meter dash and helped the Wildcats sweep the 400- and 1,600-meter relays.

Abilene Christian's eight individual crowns in the men's outdoor competition equaled a championships record held by the Wildcats (1994 and 1985) and St. Augustine's (1991). Guy led the Abilene Christian effort at the outdoor championships, winning the 400-meter dash and helping in the 400- and 1,600-meter relays.

While Abilene Christian's triumph was the only one of its kind during the championships year, other institutions posted significant accomplishments:

* Again this year in women's track, all three schools that won division indoor championships also won outdoor titles. Joining Abilene Christian in sweeps were Louisiana State University in Division I and the University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh, in Division III.

* Methodist College took home team championships in both men's and women's golf. The women's team won the first Divisions II and III championship (this was the first year in which Division I and Divisions II and III women's championships were separated). Previously, all women's teams competed in a National Collegiate championship.

* In Division III swimming and diving, Kenyon College remained invincible. The men's team won its 17th straight crown, and the women's team claimed its 13th straight championship.

* In Division II, Kennesaw State College won both the baseball and women's softball championships. It was Kennesaw State's second straight title in women's softball and its first in baseball.

Other championships highlights:

* George Mason University put the period on the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville's, 12-year winning streak in men's indoor track. Winning its first track championship, George Mason claimed two individual-event crowns to become only the 10th school to win an indoor title since the championships began in 1965. Arkansas finished third, trailing George Mason and the University of Nebraska, Lincoln. The Razorbacks rallied at the outdoor championships to win their fifth straight title and sixth overall.

* The University of Notre Dame ended the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill's, nine-year victory streak in the semifinals of the Division I Women's Soccer Championship, then won its first soccer championship with a 1-0 overtime victory over the University of Portland. Notre Dame became only the third team to win the Division I women's title since the championship began in 1982. North Carolina has won 12 titles and George Mason has won one.

* The University of Alabama, Huntsville, won its first championship in any sport when it captured the Division II men's ice hockey crown by defeating four-time defending champion Bemidji State University. The championship set an attendance record with 12,417 fans attending the two-day event in Huntsville. The previous record was set in Huntsville in 1994, when Bemidji State defeated Alabama-Huntsville in the sudden-death overtime of a tiebreaking minigame.

* In Division I basketball, the Southeastern Conference took all the glory when the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, won the women's title and the University of Kentucky captured the men's championship. Kentucky defeated Syracuse University to win its sixth men's basketball championship, but its first since 1978. Tennessee won an all-SEC final against the University of Georgia to take its fourth championship.

* The University of Michigan brought the Division I men's ice hockey title back to Ann Arbor for the first time in 30 years, but not without some nail-biting. For a while it looked like fourth verse, same as the first. After being eliminated in overtime the previous three years, Michigan defeated Colorado College at 3:35 into overtime to win the school's eighth title. Michigan was almost unbeatable in the 1950s but had not won the title since 1964.

* Men's water polo moved from an eight-team championship to a four-team event for the first time in its 27-year history. The University of California, Los Angeles, won its fourth title but its first since 1972. UCLA defeated the University of California, Berkeley, to win the championship. It was the fourth time that the two teams have met in the final -- each has won two times.

* Trenton State College continued to dominate in Division III women's lacrosse, winning its fourth straight championship and its eight in the event's 12-year history. Trenton State scored a championship-game-record seven goals to beat Middlebury College. Trenton State also capped an undefeated field hockey season by beating Messiah College in the Division III Field Hockey Championship and winning its seventh field hockey crown but the first since 1991.

* In wrestling, first-time champions were crowned in Divisions II and III. Wartburg College had finished as runner-up in Division III in 1993 and 1994, but did not break through for a title until 1996. Two individuals who were runners-up last year, Tom Smith (126 pounds) and Jamal Fox (142 pounds), led the Wartburg charge. In Division II, the University of Pittsburgh, Johnstown, used eight all-American performances (but only one individual champion) to edge defending champion University of Central Oklahoma and win its first title. The victory ended Central Oklahoma's four-year winning streak, although the Bronchos claimed three individual championships.

* Nebraska won its first Division I women's volleyball title in the first final between non-California teams since 1988. Nebraska downed the University of Texas at Austin to win its first crown in three championship-match appearances. The Cornhuskers entered the 1994 tournament as the top-ranked team but were defeated in the regional finals.

* In men's volleyball, UCLA increased its tally of National Collegiate titles to 16 and won its second consecutive championship by defeating the University of Hawaii, Manoa.

* Overtime thrillers were the order of the day in the Divisions I and III Men's Lacrosse Championships. Princeton University needed a goal 94 seconds into overtime to defeat the University of Virginia and win its third crown in six years. In Division III, Nazareth College's Terry Goetze won the faceoff and scored the game-winner in the first 14 seconds of overtime to give the Gold Flyers an 11-10 win over Washington College (Maryland). It was Nazareth's second lacrosse title. In Division II, Long Island University/C. W. Post Campus won the school's first NCAA championship when the Pioneers defeated Adelphi University.

* The titlists in Divisions II and III football started their seasons strong and proved unbeatable before they were done. The University of North Alabama finished 14-0 and extended its winning streak against Division II opponents to 41 games. The Lions' actual streak of 23 consecutive victories is the second-longest in college football, trailing only Nebraska's 24. North Alabama defeated Pittsburg State University, 27-7, before 15,241 hometown fans in Florence, Alabama, to clinch the championship. In Division III, the University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh, also finished 14-0 by defeating Rowan College of New Jersey in the Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl.

* West Virginia University raised its title total in the National Collegiate Men's and Women's Rifle Championships to 11 despite shooting its lowest air rifle score of the year. In individual competition, however, West Virginia senior Trevor Gathman set a championships record for air rifle with a score of 394. Joe Johnson of the U.S. Naval Academy claimed the individual small-bore crown with a score of 1,170, edging Gathman by one point. Johnson was the first individual from a service academy to win either rifle event.