The NCAA News - News and Features

The NCAA News -- July 5, 1999

Championships Year in Review -- The 'I's' have it

Record performances in individual/team sports highlight 1998-99 season

BY GARY T. BROWN
STAFF WRITER

There may not be an "i" in "team," but there are plenty in "individual champion." And without dotting those "i's," not many teams could have crossed their "t's" in "trophy" in 1998-99.

To be sure, it was another impeccable year for individual performances at NCAA individual/team-sport championships. Several student-athletes became the first in their respective divisions to post new heights in championship performance. Others set multiple meet records and won multiple events. Some even dominated their championship to the point of carrying their squads to team trophies.

Take Texas' Suziann Reid, for instance. She registered a pair of firsts for Division I female athletes in the women's

outdoor track and field championships. In addition to becoming the first woman to win the outdoor 400-meter title three times, she also is the only woman in the meet's 18-year history to be part of four straight winning relays. And the relay she was a part of -- the 1,600-meter relay -- put Texas over the top for the team trophy. It was the second straight year that the team title had come down to the 1,600, the last race of the meet.

Not only was Reid a factor outdoors, but indoors as well. She literally anchored Texas' run to the women's indoor championship by running the last leg of the 1,600-meter relay and winning the 400-meter dash for the second straight year. Again, Texas successfully defended its crown.

"I had to put on a show," Reid said after her performance indoors. "My top goal was to defend my title in my last indoor championship and I was really happy to do it in front of my parents."

Reid's parents had driven from Maryland to attend the indoor meet in Indianapolis.

Reid's accolades accelerated after her outdoor track performance. She was named the Honda award winner for women's track and field and was eligible to win the Honda Broderick Cup, which is awarded to the nation's top female collegiate athlete. Reid also was recognized as the Big 12 Conference Female Athlete of the Year.

Division II counterpart

Just as dominant as Reid -- but in a different division -- was Abilene Christian's Delloreen Ennis-London, who became the first Division II woman to win an event four times at the Division II Women's Indoor Track and Field Championships. Ennis-London captured the 55-meter hurdles in a meet-record 7.62 seconds. She also established a meet record in the outdoor 100-meter hurdles in winning the event for the fourth straight year, becoming just the second Division II woman to win the same outdoor event four times.

In her three-plus years at Abilene Christian, Ennis-London has never lost an NCAA championship hurdles race. In addition, she ran a wind-aided 12.60 in the 100-meter hurdles at the 1999 Penn Relays, which was .01 second faster than the collegiate record set by UCLA's Gail Devers in 1988.

Ennis-London wasn't the only Abilene Christian star in track this year. Teammate Tracy Barnes became the first competitor in the 18-year history of the outdoor championships to win the 200- and 400-meter dashes for two consecutive seasons.

Barnes has won 14 NCAA track titles (including seven individual titles) and holds school records in the 200 and 400 meters.

At the Lone Star Conference meet in April, Barnes ran a 22.97 in the 200-meter dash, which at the time ranked as the third fastest finish in the country.

Individual monarchy

In Division III men's golf, individual standards are often set by Methodist, which has a propensity for churning out medalists. This year, it was Chad Collins who headed the championship field for a second straight season and became the fifth consecutive medalist from Methodist.

Collins was the only Division III golfer to manage the championship course at Williams, posting the tournament's only final score that was not over par. He finished with an even-par total of 284, highlighted by a second-round 66. The 284 was one stroke shy of the tournament record that Collins tied in 1998.

Collins has been ranked at the top of Division III for two years and has twice been acclaimed by the Golf Coaches Association of America as its player of the year. This year alone, Collins won four events and finished among the top five in three others.

As much as Collins dominated this year's field, Methodist has been even more dominant over Division III in the last decade. Nine times since 1990 the Monarchs have come away with the crown. Methodist hadn't won a title before 1990 and still hasn't matched the 12 titles posted by the division's previous dominator -- Cal State Stanislaus -- but that may just be a matter of time. Monarchs coach Steve Conley has mentored eight NCAA medalists and 41 all-Americans.

Not only did the division championships experience top performers, but so did events that span all three divisions.

Stanford's Felicia Zimmerman, who won the women's foil title in 1998, became the first woman fencer in the history of the National Collegiate Men's and Women's Fencing Championships to win a title in two different weapons when she captures this year's women's epee crown.

A junior, Zimmerman won the epee title over Penn State's Stephanie Eim, 8-7.

In the National Collegiate Men's and Women's Rifle Championships, Kelly Mansfield of Alaska Fairbanks won titles in the smallbore and air rifle events. She is the first competitor to do so since 1980.

And in skiing, Dartmouth's David Viele became the first men's giant slalom champion to successfully defend the title in the National Collegiate Men's and Women's Skiing Championships.

Viele finished the event in 2:11.63, ahead of New Mexico's Stefan Lanziner.

Teamwork

This year's individual accomplishments also led to a few teams posting championship firsts:

Arkansas became the first school in Division I history to win the men's cross country, indoor track and outdoor track and field titles in the same academic year -- the "triple crown" -- five times.

Lincoln (Pennsylvania) became the first school in Division II history to win titles in men's and women's indoor and outdoor track and field the same year.

Kenyon's streaks kept going in Division III men's and women's swimming and diving. The Ladies used record-breaking performances from Amelia Armstrong, Marisha Stawiski and Erica Carroll to win a 16th straight title, while the Lords' skein reached 20 thanks to 10 individual titles, including four in relay events.

Cortland State assumed the lead as producers of individual champions in Division III women's cross country when Cheryl Smith crossed the finish line in 17:48.39. Smith, a freshman, is Cortland State's fourth individual champion.

Top Individual Performers

Some of the top individual performances in this year's NCAA individual/team sports include:

DIVISION I

Women's Swimming and Diving -- Martina Moravcova of Southern Methodist won three events in the final meet of her career. Her victories in the 100- and 200-yard freestyles and the 200-yard individual medley give Moravcova 10 individual championships for her four-year career, a total that is second only to Florida's Tracy Caulkins, who won 12 titles from 1982-84.

Men's Tennis -- K.J. Hippensteel and Ryan Wolters of Stanford won the Cardinal's 13th doubles title and second in a row. The duo's victory continues a Stanford streak of taking home championship hardware (either individual or team) for five consecutive years.

Women's Tennis -- California's Amanda Augustus and Amy Jensen became the second tandem in the history of the championship to successfully defend the doubles throne with their 4-6, 7-5, 6-1 win over Georgia's Vanessa Castellano and Marissa Catlin.

Women's Outdoor Track and Field -- UCLA's Seilala Sua became just the fourth athlete in Division I women's history to win both the shot put and discus in the same meet and to win three consecutive discus titles. She set a meet record in the discus of 210 feet, 10 inches, bettering by two inches the mark she set last year. ("It's cool to win both events," Sua said afterward.)

Also, Villanova's Carrie Tollefson won both the 3,000- and 5,000-meter runs, the first time that feat has been accomplished in Division I history.

Wrestling -- Cal State Bakersfield heavyweight Stephen Neal defended his crown and won the 83rd consecutive match of his career in the final over Minnesota's Brock Lesnar, which allowed Iowa to edge Minnesota for the team title.

Also, Iowa State's Cael Sanderson completed a storybook freshman season by winning the 184-pound weight class and most-outstanding-wrestler recognition. Sanderson went undefeated in 38 matches throughout the year, pinned three opponents during the championships and decisioned Minnesota's Brandon Eggum, 6-1, in the final.

DIVISION II

Men's Swimming and Diving -- Drury's Marcin Malinski became the fifth Division II men's swimmer to win four events in one meet. Malinski captured the 200- and 400-yard individual medleys, the 200-yard butterfly and the 200-yard breaststroke. Teammate Mirolsav Bobak won three events and broke an NCAA meet record in the 500-yard freestyle that had stood since 1985.

Men's Indoor Track and Field -- St. Augustine's Deworski Odom set a championship first when he won both the 55-meter dash and the 55-meter hurdles.

Women's Outdoor Track and Field -- Kim Bosen of Adams State won both the 5,000- and 10,000 meter runs. It marked the fourth consecutive year that the same athlete had placed first in both events.

DIVISION III

Men's Tennis -- In the "this is confusing" department, Thomas Oechel of UC Santa Cruz defeated doubles partner Brian Cummings for the singles crown, then paired with Cummings to beat another Cummings -- Ryan of Kalamazoo -- and another Ryan -- Shockley -- for the doubles crown.

Men's Indoor Track and Field -- Mount Union's Shawn Watson became the seventh Division III competitor to win an event three times when he soared 25 feet, 3 1/2 inches in the long jump.

Women's Outdoor Track and Field -- Rhondale Jones of Lincoln (Pennsylvania) became only the second Division III woman to win three events in a single meet when she won the 100- and 200-meter dashes and the 100-meter high hurdles.

Wrestling -- In a brotherly act, College of New Jersey's Justin Totten won the 141-pound class to become the second titlist in his family. Totten's brother, Brandon, was the 1995 and 1996 Division III champion at 158 pounds for Delaware Valley. They are just the second brother tandem from different institutions to win Division III titles.