The NCAA News - News and Features

June 1, 1998

Wildcats women win for bookend track titles

Team performances at the indoor track and field championships typically are not a good barometer for gauging the outcome of the outdoor championships.

They are, however, for the Division II women's championships -- at least in recent years.

Since 1994, Abilene Christian has on three occasions after winning the indoor title won the outdoor title as well. Overall, the Wildcats have swept the titles four times.

Make that five.

Abilene Christian claimed six individual events and sprinted to a record eighth title May 21-23 at Southern Illinois-Edwardsville.

The Wildcats, who romped to the 1998 indoor crown, totaled 120 points to cruise to their fourth crown in five years.

St. Augustine's, the 1997 champion, finished runner-up for the second time in three years.

Adams State garnered third-place honors, equaling its highest finish (1994), while Lewis and South Dakota finished fourth and fifth, respectively. South Dakota's showing was its best ever.

Tracey Barnes led the Wildcats, sweeping the 200- and 400-meter dashes to contribute 20 points. The Wildcats' sprints corps accounted for 82 of the team's 120 points, including 22 points in the 100-meter high hurdles.

Barnes, who anchored the Wildcats' winning 400- and 1,600-meter relays, scorched the field in the 400 to win her second title. Barnes finished in 52.55 seconds, 1.51 seconds ahead of runner-up Carri Butler of Nebraska-Omaha.

Moments after winning the 400, Barnes cruised past the field by more than one-half second in the 200. The title, along with the 400 crown, enabled Barnes to become the first Division II women's competitor and only second woman in NCAA history to sweep the 200 and 400. Nancy Cisar of Central (Iowa) also swept the events in 1984.

Joining Barnes among the elite was teammate Delloreen Ennis, who won her third consecutive 100-meter high-hurdles title. Ennis, who also finished second in the 100-meter dash, sprinted past the field to become the first Division II women's competitor and only the third NCAA women's competitor to win three consecutive 100 hurdles titles. Gillian Russell of Miami (Florida) (1993-94-95) and Bridget Cochran of Christopher Newport (1996-97-98) also won three consecutive titles.

Zandra Borrero added to the Wildcats' dominance in the sprints with a fourth-place showing in the 100-meter dash. She also joined Ennis, Barnes and Shawntel Newhouse on the winning 400 relay, and Carlene Vassell, Juanita Robertson and Barnes on the winning 1,600 relay.

The Wildcats' field-events crew, led by Monique Kuenen, also contributed key points.

Kuenen tallied 10 points with her second consecutive discus-throw title and added five more with a fourth-place showing in the shot put.

Ranessa Crawford added 13 points, placing second in the discus throw and fourth in the hammer throw, while Shawntel Newhouse contributed 10 points with third- and fifth-place finishes in the long jump and 100 hurdles, respectively.

Abilene Christian competitors weren't the only performers in the spotlight. Kasia Arient and Malgorzata Biela of Lewis, Elisha Marshall of North Carolina Central and Kim Schiemenz of Northern Colorado also excelled.

Arient won two individual-event titles, repeating as champion in the 5,000- and 10,000-meter runs. Arient joined Christie Allen of Pittsburg State as the only Division II women's competitors to sweep the events in consecutive years. Julia Kirtland of Macalester (1986-87) is the only other NCAA women's competitor to complete the feat, accomplishing it at the Division III championships.

Biela won her second consecutive 1,500-meter run, while Marshall and Schiemenz won their school's first individual titles, claiming the 100-meter dash and heptathlon, respectively.