Abilene Christian's varied attack withstood a challenge from Western State's crew of distance runners to allow the Wildcats to repeat as team champions in the Division II Men's Indoor Track and Field Championships March 14-15 in Boston.

The Wildcats scored 58 points, stretched over five of the meet's 13 events, to edge Western State by four points. Abilene Christian has won the indoor title 10 times in the championships' 18-year history.

Bernard Manirakiza was the Wildcats' only event winner, edging Central Missouri State's Leif Kennedy by .45 of a second in the 800-meter run. Manirakiza also placed sixth in the mile run, despite losing his shoe during the first few seconds of the race.

"Someone stepped on my shoe," Manirakiza said. "It came off and I had to run the rest of the race without it. It was tough, but I had to keep going."

Abilene Christian had two scorers in each of three events. Nic Alexander was second and Christie VanWyk was fourth in the 60-meter dash. In the triple jump, Yevgen Pashchenko and Ben Washington finished second and third, respectively. Shai Shalev placed third and Manuel Brandeborn finished fourth in the shot put.

Western State wrapped up all 54 of its points in only two events -- the mile run and 5,000-meter run. Scott Nagelkerke won the 5,000 and finished second to teammate Will Banks in the mile. The Mountaineers swept the top six places in the 5,000.

Cal State Bakersfield was third in the team scoring with 34 points. Tony Thompson won the shot put for the Roadrunners, with teammate Chris Figures taking the runner-up spot.

Ivan Varbanov of Central Missouri State was the meet's lone double winner as he flew to victory in the high and triple jumps. Jason Smoots of North Carolina Central set the only meet record with a mark of 6.55 seconds in the 60-meter dash.

Smoots won the short sprint event (55 meters in 2001, 60 meters in 2002 and 2003) for the third consecutive year. Kevin Bartlett of Lincoln (Missouri) was the only other athlete to repeat, winning the long jump for the second year in a row.

TEAM RESULTS

1. Abilene Christian, 58; 2. Western St., 54; 3. Cal St. Bakersfield, 34; 4. Central Mo. St., 33; 5. St. Augustine's, 32; 6. Ashland, 28; 7. Lincoln (Mo.), 26; 8. Adams St., 25; 9. South Dakota, 16; 10. (tie) Kutztown and NYIT, 14; 12. Mo. Southern St., 13; 13. (tie) Indianapolis, North Dakota St. and Tex. A&M-Kingsville, 11; 16. (tie) Minn. St. Moorhead and N.C. Central, 10; 18. South Dakota St., 9; 19. (tie) Lewis, Minn. St. Mankato and Mo.-Rolla, 8; 22. (tie) Mass.-Lowell, Neb.-Kearney and Wheeling Jesuit, 7; 25. Fort Hays St., 6 1/2; 26. Northwood, 6; 27. (tie) Cal St. Stanislaus, Findlay and North Fla., 5; 30. (tie) Chadron St. and Virginia St., 4; 32. (tie) East Stroudsburg, Livingstone, Pittsburg St. and Southern Conn. St., 3; 36. (tie) Northwest Mo. St. and Saginaw Valley, 2; 38. Slippery Rock, 1 1/2.

INDIVIDUAL RESULTS

60-meter dash: 1. Jason Smoots, N.C. Central, 6.55 (meet record: old record 6.66, Smoots, 2002); 2. Nic Alexander, Abilene Christian, 6.57; 3. Lerone Clarke, Lincoln (Mo.), 6.75; 4. Christie VanWyk, Abilene Christian, 6.79; 5. Dwight Anderson, South Dakota, 6.81; 6. Jordan Vaden, Livingstone, 6.85; 7. Jody Stewart, Ashland, 6.86; 8. Mike Appelhans, Fort Hays St., 6.87.

400-meter dash: 1. Wilan Louis, St. Augustine's, 47.67; 2. Michael Eisenhart, Kutztown, 47.76; 3. Josh Weber, Northwood, 48.06; 4. Orville Taylor, NYIT, 48.10; 5. Bryan Stenquist, Mass.-Lowell, 48.19; 6. Reginald Cross, Indianapolis, 48.24; 7. Delt Cockrell, Abilene Christian, 48.27; 8. Bruno Wavelet, NYIT, 48.28.

800-meter run: 1. Bernard Manirakiza, Abilene Christian, 1:51.52; 2. Leif Kennedy, Central Mo. St., 1:51.97; 3. Aaron Davis, Adams St., 1:52.06; 4. Nate Iler, Ashland, 1:52.16; 5. Eric Weaver, Adams St., 1:52.36; 6. Shane Roder, South Dakota, 1:52.94; 7. Jon Ortloff, Minn. St. Mankato, 1:53.18; 8. Damien Sobers, NYIT, 1:53.20.

Mile run: 1. Will Banks, Western St., 4:04.01; 2. Scott Nagelkerke, Western St., 4:04.23; 3. Nick Cordes, Ashland, 4:04.50; 4. Jerry Reckart, North Fla., 4:05.21; 5. Brad Lowery, South Dakota St., 4:05.33; 6. Bernard Manirakiza, Abilene Christian, 4:05.44; 7. Matt Pearson, South Dakota St., 4:07.22; 8. Kevin Alliette, Mass.-Lowell, 4:12.26.

5,000-meter run: 1. Scott Nagelkerke, Western St., 14:06.22; 2. Josh Eberly, Western St., 14:06.25; 3. Paul McRae, Western St., 14:08.60; 4. Philip McPherson, Western St., 14:13.92; 5. Rubin McRae, Western St., 14:16.83; 6. Will Banks, Western St., 14:20.26; 7. Greg Darbyshire, South Dakota St., 14:22.64; 8. Matt Levassiur, Adams St., 14:27.44.

60-meter high hurdles: 1. Ricardo Moody, Adams St., 7.80; 2. Anwar Moore, St. Augustine's, 7.83; 3. Unyime Akpan, St. Augustine's, 7.92; 4. Ben Clark, Tex. A&M-Kingsville, 7.97; 5. Derrick Blount, Virginia St., 7.99; 6. Tim Reetz, Adams St., 8.02; 7. Tarmo Jallai, Tex. A&M-Kingsville, 8.06; 8. David Hegland, South Dakota St., 8.15.

1,600-meter relay: 1. Lincoln (Mo.) (Joseph Brown, Fabian Felix, Keyshawn Lugrand, Adrian Robinson), 3:12.22; 2. St. Augustine's, 3:12.54; 3. North Dakota St., 3:12.96; 4. Findlay, 3:13.84; 5. NYIT, 3:15.10; 6. Abilene Christian, 3:15.35; 7. Mass.-Lowell, 3:18.39; 8. Southern Conn. St., 4:15.40.

High jump: 1. Ivan Varbanov, Central Mo. St., 2.14 (7-0 1/4); 2. (tie) Adrian O'Dell, Ashland, and Hong Yong Bi, Wheeling Jesuit, 2.11 (6-11); 4. Derek Bailey, Neb.-Kearney, 2.11 (6-11); 5. Derrick Murphy, Chadron St., 2.08 (6-9 3/4); 6. Mike Newhard, East Stroudsburg, 2.08 (6-9 3/4); 7. Mario Guerrero, Saginaw Valley, 2.03 (6-8); 8. Paul Brozik, South Dakota, 2.03 (6-8).

Pole vault: 1. Seth Isringhausen, Mo. Southern St., 5.10 (16-8 3/4); 2. J.R. Skola, Mo.-Rolla, 5.00 (16-4 3/4); 3. Andrew Petersen, Minn. St. Mankato, 4.90 (16-0 3/4); 4. Sam Pribyl, South Dakota, 4.90 (16-0 3/4); 5. Mark Zilch, Lewis, 4.80 (15-9); 6. Kyle Rutledge, Mo. Southern St., 4.80 (15-9); 7. Nick Wilpula, Slippery Rock, 4.55 (14-11); 7. Chad Burks, Fort Hays St., 4.55 (14-11).

Long jump: 1. Kevin Bartlett, Lincoln (Mo.), 7.71 (25-3 1/2); 2. Joey Brightbill, Ashland, 7.24 (23-9); 3. Justin Collins, Kutztown, 7.24 (23-9); 4. Justin Lockhart, North Dakota St., 7.22 (23-8 1/4); 5. Mike Bragg, Tex. A&M-Kingsville, 7.15 (23-5 1/2); 6. Paul Brozik, South Dakota, 7.14 (23-5 1/4); 7. Tarrant Fuller, Abilene Christian, 7.01 (23-0); 8. Brysen Mustain, Adams St., 6.97 (22-10 1/2).

Triple jump: 1. Ivan Varbanov, Central Mo. St., 15.59 (51-1 3/4); 2. Yevgen Pashchenko, Abilene Christian, 15.53 (50-11 1/2); 3. Ben Washington, Abilene Christian, 15.33 (50-3 1/2); 4. Stephen Chambers, Central Mo. St., 14.99 (49-2 1/4); 5. Marquise Brown, Lewis, 14.88 (48-10); 6. Lloyd Brown, NYIT, 14.69 (48-2 1/2); 7. Eric Pierce, Southern Conn. St., 14.65 (48-0 3/4); 8. Jamaica Rector, Northwest Mo. St., 14.64 (48-0 1/2).

Shot put: 1. Tony Thompson, Cal St. Bakersfield, 18.33 (60-1 3/4); 2. Chris Figures, Cal St. Bakersfield, 17.47 (57-3 3/4); 3. Shai Shalev, Abilene Christian, 17.30 (56-9 1/4); 4. Manuel Brandeborn, Abilene Christian, 16.80 (55-1 1/2); 5. Cole Sprague, Cal St. Stanislaus, 16.79 (55-1); 6. Dusty Terflinger, Pittsburg St., 16.44 (53-11 1/4); 7. Lance Pfeiffer, Neb.-Kearney, 16.33 (53-7); 8. Daniel McKim, Northwest Mo. St., 16.25 (53-3 3/4).

35-pound weight throw: 1. Chris Nulle, Minn. St. Moorhead, 19.37 (63-6 3/4); 2. Damieon Smith, Indianapolis, 18.94 (62-1 3/4); 3. Chris Figures, Cal St. Bakersfield, 18.44 (60-6); 4. Arnaldo Cueto, Cal St. Bakersfield, 18.32 (60-1 1/4); 5. Kyle Herl, Fort Hays St., 18.25 (59-10 1/2); 6. Tony Thompson, Cal St. Bakersfield, 18.24 (59-10 1/4); 7. Michael Prestridge, Cal St. Bakersfield, 18.11 (59-5); 8. Cole Sprague, Cal