The NCAA News - News and Features

June 2, 1997

Abilene Christian blows away competitors in II men's track

BY STEPHEN R. HAGWELL
STAFF WRITER

EDWARDSVILLE, ILLINOIS--Just when it seems like Abilene Christian men's outdoor track and field team has accomplished everything possible, the Wildcats accomplish more.

One year after scoring 149 points to blow away the field by 711/2 points, Abilene Christian continued its dominance of the Division II Men's Outdoor Track and Field Championships by scoring 151 points -- more than the combined total of its three closest competitors -- and winning its second consecutive team title May 22-24 at Southern Illinois-Edwardsville.

Abilene Christian, which claimed a record nine individual titles, won a record ninth team championship. The nine individual titles beat the record of eight set three times by Abilene Christian (1984, 1985 and 1996) and also by St. Augustine's (1991), and gives the Wildcats a championships-record 70 titles.

Angelo State placed second with 69 points, followed by Central Missouri State (40 points), St. Augustine's (38) and Adams State (33). The second-place finish was the fifth for Angelo State.

The Wildcats' 82-point margin of victory is the largest since 1986, when Abilene Christian outdistanced runner-up Southeast Missouri State by 82 points (142-60). The 151 points is the fifth highest total ever and the most points since the Wildcats scored 1701/2 in 1985. Abilene Christian holds the top five championships scoring totals.

Abilene Christian has finished first or second at 13 of the last 16 championships.

"I never expected that we'd win by such a large margin," said Abilene Christian coach Wes Kittley. "I thought we had a chance to score 120 points, but I also thought that there were teams that would score 80 to 90 points.

"To score 150 points, that's beyond what I ever expected. I'm so proud of this team."

Sayon Cooper led the way for Kittley's squad, winning the 100- and 200-meter dashes and competing on the Wildcats' title-winning 400-meter relay.

Kempa Busby and Brian TenEyck each played a role in two Wildcat event victories. Busby won the 400-meter dash and anchored Abilene Christian's 1,600 relay to victory, while TenEyck participated on both winning relays.

Thomas Korir, Fallody Moonga and Trafton Rodgers each recorded two top-five showings, including first-place finishes.

Korir won the 3,000-meter run and placed second in the 800-meter run; Moonga successfully defended his title in the 10,000-meter run and added a fourth-place showing in the 5,000-meter run; and Rodgers won the decathlon and registered a fourth-place finish in the 110-meter high hurdles.

Ayodele Aladefa won the long-jump title.

Ron Nelson and Oscar Meneses joined Cooper and TenEyck on the 400 relay, while Jason Prann and Andrew Reyes teamed with Busby and TenEyck on the 1,600 relay. Nelson also competed in the 100 and 200 dashes, placing fifth and sixth, respectively.

Glenn Griffin placed in three events, highlighted by a third-place finish in the shot put, while Musa Gwanzura added team points with a third-place finish in the 800 and a sixth-place showing in the 1,500.

"This truly was a team effort; everyone contributed," Kittley said. "We were spread out in a lot of events like last year.

"I could go on and on about the accomplishments of each of our guys, but I can't tell you how proud I am of this team."

Gregory Roberts of Morehouse and John McEwen of Morningside joined Moonga as repeat champions.

Roberts registered the championships' only record-breaking performance, soaring 2.28 meters (7 feet, 53/4 inches) to win the high jump. Roberts' mark surpassed the 12-year-old record of 2.24 (7-41/4) set by Jim Moran of Cal State Hayward in 1984.

McEwen became the first competitor to win consecutive hammer throw titles since Bill Borden of Southern Connecticut State in 1981 and 1982.

DIVISION II MEN'S OUTDOOR TRACK AND FIELD

TEAM RESULTS

1. Abilene Christian, 151; 2. Angelo St., 69; 3. Central Mo. St., 40; 4. St. Augustine's, 38; 5. Adams St., 33; 6. Lewis, 32; 7. (tie) Pittsburg St. and Western St., 30; 9. Southern Ind., 24; 10. Cal St. Bakersfield, 22.

11. (tie) Morehouse, New York Tech and Slippery Rock, 20; 14. Ashland, 18; 15. (tie) Indianapolis and Shippensburg, 17; 17. Wheeling Jesuit, 16; 18. South Dak. St., 13; 19. Southern Conn. St., 11; 20. (tie) Augustana (S.D.), Mo. Southern St., Morningside and North Dak. St., 10.

24. (tie) UC Davis and Fort Hays St., 9; 26. (tie) Albany St. (Ga.), UC Riverside, Cal St. Chico, Humboldt St., Minn.-Duluth and South Dak., 8; 32. (tie) Cal St. Los Angeles and St. Cloud St., 7.

34. (tie) Alabama A&M, Edinboro, St. Joseph's (Ind.), Seattle Pacific, 6; 38. (tie) Emporia St., Morris Brown and Virginia Union, 5; 41. (tie) Lincoln (Mo.), Mankato St., Mass.-Lowell and Tarleton St., 4.

45. (tie) Cal Poly Pomona, Central Okla., Neb.-Kearney and Truman St., 3; 49. (tie) Indiana (Pa.), New Haven, Northern Colo. and Virginia St., 2; 53. San Fran. St., 1.

INDIVIDUAL RESULTS

100-meter dash: 1. Sayon Cooper, Abilene Christian, 10.47; 2. Ewart Scott, St. Augustine's, 10.66; 3. Paston Coke, New York Tech, 10.80; 4. Roosevelt Blackmon, Morris Brown, 10.81; 5. Ron Nelson, Abilene Christian, 10.83; 6. Tom Farnbach, Cal St. Los Angeles, 10.84; 7. Williams Perry, St. Augustine's, 10.88; Dwight Ferguson, Lincoln (Mo.), false start.

200-meter dash: 1. Sayon Cooper, Abilene Christian, 21.01; 2. Royce Dennis, Angelo St., 21.12; 3. James Thrash, Mo. Southern St., 21.46; 4. Scottie Stokes, Cal St. Bakersfield, 21.46; 5. Dwight Ferguson, Lincoln (Mo.), 21.63; 6. Ron Nelson, Abilene Christian, 21.64; 7. Tom Farnbach, Cal St. Los Angeles, 21.65; 8. Gabriel Burnett, St. Augustine's, 21.76.

400-meter dash: 1. Kempa Busby, Abilene Christian, 45.94; 2. Lenval Laird, New York Tech, 45.98; 3. Wayde Payne, Alabama A&M, 46.89; 4. Jason Breitzman, North Dak. St., 47.08; 5. Ryan Scott, Mankato St., 47.39; 6. Matt Antognoli, Truman St., 47.65; 7. Daren Foster, St. Augustine's, 47.89; 8. Jason Wimbley, Western St., 48.54.

800-meter run: 1. Ossie Mdziniso, Augustana (S.D.), 1:48.40; 2. Thomas Korir, Abilene Christian, 1:49.05; 3. Musa Gwanzura, Abilene Christian, 1:49.77; 4. David Locker, Lewis, 1:50.17; 5. Willy Best, Western St., 1:50.22; 6. Dutch Yerton, Humboldt St., 1:50.69; 7. Eric Larson, New Haven, 1:52.97; 8. Stephen Willis, Western St., 1:55.41.

1,500-meter run: 1. Thomas Korir, Abilene Christian, 3:46.50; 2. Alexandr Alexin, Central Mo. St., 3:46.86; 3. Stephen Willis, Western St., 3:48.26; 4. Nick Burrow, South Dak. St., 3:48.52; 5. Mark McManus, UC Davis, 3:49.03; 6. Musa Gwanzura, Abilene Christian, 3:49.45; 7. Randy Benedict, Ashland, 3:50.40; 8. Chris Hollmann, Adams St., 3:50.45.

3,000-meter steeplechase: 1. Hamish Smith, Western St., 8:51.07; 2. Mirek Bieniecki, Lewis, 8:58.28; 3. Elly Rono, Southern Ind., 9:02.93; 4. Tim Miller, Humboldt St., 9:03.54; 5. Travis Kuhl, Edinboro, 9:04.06; 6. James White, Neb.-Kearney, 9:04.88; 7. Cliff Curtis, Cal Poly Pomona, 9:06.45; 8. Carl Blackhurst, Adams St., 9:06.65.

5,000-meter run: 1. Oliver Grund, Ashland, 14:15.81; 2. Hamish Smith, Western St., 14:19.37; 3. Elly Rono, Southern Ind., 14:20.60; 4. Fallody Moonga, Abilene Christian, 14:23.51; 5. Fredrick Adongo, St. Augustine's, 14:39.06; 6. Mark McKeown, South Dak. St., 14:42.08; 7. Danny Reed, UC Riverside, 14:44.76; 8. Cliff Curtis, Cal Poly Pomona, 14:47.50.

10,000-meter run: 1. Fallody Moonga, Abilene Christian, 29:31.42; 2. Elly Rono, Southern Ind., 29:43.46; 3. Danny Reed, UC Riverside, 29:47.47; 4. Jesse Westrup, North Dak. St., 30:10.01; 5. Keil Kaiser, Southern Ind., 30:11.75; 6. Andy Hopkins, Minn.-Duluth, 30:13.19; 7. Fredrick Adongo, St. Augustine's, 30:14.14; 8. Jason Kayne, Adams St., 30:26.94.

110-meter hurdles: 1. Stephen Gittens, Adams St., 14.06; 2. James McCarty, Pittsburg St., 14.11; 3. Rusty Fry, Wheeling Jesuit, 14.37; 4. Trafton Rodgers, Abilene Christian, 14.47; 5. Brian Moorman, Pittsburg St., 14.52; 6. Dave McCune, Angelo St., 14.53; 7. Shaka Huggins, Adams St., 14.65; 8. Stanley Ridley, Central Okla., 14.74.

400-meter intermediate hurdles: 1. Brian Moorman, Pittsburg St., 50.21; 2. Stephen Gittens, Adams St., 50.26; 3. Jimmy Foster, St. Augustine's, 50.77; 4. Dave McCune, Angelo St., 51.55; 5. Liam Gavostes, Mass.-Lowell, 52.05; 6. Marlon Thomas, Angelo St., 52.31; 7. Stanley Ridley, Central Okla., 52.67; 8. Hollis Watkins, Morehouse, 53.31.

400-meter relay: 1. Abilene Christian (Ron Nelson, Sayon Cooper, Oscar Meneses, Brian TenEyck), 39.94; 2. Morehouse, 40.17; 3. Cal St. Bakersfield, 40.30; 4. St. Augustine's, 40.41; 5. Angelo St., 40.72; 6. Fort Hays St., 40.94; 7. Cal St. Los Angeles, 41.06; 8. Adams St., 41.25.

1,600-meter relay: 1. Abilene Christian (Jason Prann, Brian TenEyck, Andrew Reyes, Kempa Busby), 3:05.86; 2. Angelo St., 3:05.89; 3. New York Tech, 3:09.63; 4. Adams St., 3:10.83; 5. Tarleton St., 3:10.89; 6. Pittsburg St., 3:11.14; 7. Northern Colo., 3:14.67; St. Augustine's, did not finish.

High jump: 1. Gregory Roberts, Morehouse, 2.28 (7-53/4) [meet record; old record, 2.24 (7-41/4), Jim Moran, Cal St. Hayward, 1984]; 2. David Larsen, Cal St. Bakersfield, 2.15 (7-01/2); 3. Nathan Gibson, Angelo St., 2.12 (6-111/2); 4. Richard Riley, Angelo St., 2.09 (6-101/4); 5. Marvin Robertson, Abilene Christian, 2.09 (6-101/4); 6. (tie) Chamar Wade, Albany St. (Ga.), and James Brooks, Albany St. (Ga.), 2.09 (6-101/4); 8. Theodore Williams, St. Augustine's, 2.04 (6-8 1/4).

Pole vault: 1. Andrei Skvortsov, Central Mo. St., 5.40 (17-81/2); 2. (tie) J. J. Miller, Angelo St., and Dustin DeRosier, St. Cloud St., 5.30 (17-41/2); 4. Brandon Masters, Emporia St., 5.30 (17-41/2); 5. Ben Brainard, Mo. Southern St., 5.20 (17-03/4); 6. Kacey Laughery, Angelo St., 5.00 (16-43/4); 7. Chad Eberhart, Slippery Rock, 4.90 (16-03/4); 8. Scott Preston, Lewis, 4.90 (16-03/4).

Long jump: 1. Ayodele Aladefa, Abilene Christian, 7.74 (25-43/4); 2. Donnell Baylock, Lewis, 7.47 (24-61/4); 3. Darrin Session, Angelo St., 7.45 (24-51/2); 4. Curtis Porter, Virginia Union, 7.39 (24-3); 5. Lancelot Gooden, St. Augustine's, 7.17 (23-61/4); 6. Rod Coleman, Indianapolis, 7.06 (23-2); 7. Floyd Lanier, Virginia St., 6.94 (22-91/4); 8. Octavia Jones, Albany St. (Ga.), 6.88 (22-7).

Triple jump (w indicates wind-aided): 1. Sergei Bykov, Wheeling Jesuit, 16.54w (54-31/4); 2. Steve Gordon, South Dak., 16.23 (53-3); 3. Tye Anderson, Abilene Christian, 15.82w (51-11); 4. James Robinson, Central Mo. St., 15.48w (50-91/2); 5. Rod Coleman, Indianapolis, 15.40w (50-61/4); 6. Burkheart Ellis, St. Augustine's, 15.08 (49-53/4); 7. Octavia Jones, Albany St. (Ga.), 14.95 (49-03/4); 8. Erin Johnson, Morehouse, 14.81w (48-71/4).

Shot put: 1. Andy Richardson, Indianapolis, 18.89 (61-113/4); 2. Luke Hurst, Abilene Christian, 18.56 (60-103/4); 3. Glenn Griffin, Abilene Christian, 18.33 (60-1/4); 4. John Delay, South Dak. St., 17.37 (57-0); 5. Matt Goss, Cal St. Chico, 16.97 (55-81/4); 6. Jeremy Hawks, Fort Hays St., 16.85 (55-31/2); 7. Bryan Lambert, Edinboro, 16.81 (55-2); 8. Jeff Kremer, Central Mo. St., 16.42 (53-101/2).

Discus throw: 1. Darnell Carter, Lewis, 54.82 (179-10); 2. Jeff Kremer, Central Mo. St., 52.94 (173-8); 3. Bryan Hall, St. Joseph's (Ind.), 51.94 (170-5); 4. Will Grindall, Minn.-Duluth, 50.50 (165-8); 5. Scott O'Brien, Cal St. Chico, 49.76 (163-3); 6. Cameron Bolles, Cal St. Bakersfield, 49.48 (162-4); 7. Jeremy Hawks, Fort Hays St., 48.90 (160-5); 8. Glenn Griffin, Abilene Christian, 47.80 (156-10).

Hammer throw: 1. John McEwen, Morningside, 65.14 (213-8); 2. Dan Bourque, Southern Conn. St., 63.62 (208-9); 3. Jeff Heddles, Ashland, 62.22 (204-1); 4. Hondo Salgado, Angelo St., 61.20 (200-9); 5. Darrin Wallis, Adams St., 61.12 (200-6); 6. Roy Bogue, Southern Conn. St., 60.64 (198-11); 7. Glenn Griffin, Abilene Christian, 58.70 (192-7); 8. Lino Campanile, San Fran. St., 56.76 (186-3).

Javelin throw: 1. Steve Rihel, Slippery Rock, 65.28 (214-2); 2. Kurt Dunkel, Shippensburg, 62.16 (203-11); 3. Jason McMullen, Shippensburg, 61.74 (202-7); 4. Jason Weilert, Pittsburg St., 61.44 (201-7); 5. Eric Gnagey, Slippery Rock, 60.52 (198-7); 6. Mike Crago, Shippensburg, 60.38 (198-1); 7. Rogers Davis, Angelo St., 60.30 (197-10); 8. Craig Bowman, Fort Hays St., 60.02 (196-11).

Decathlon: 1. Trafton Rodgers, Abilene Christian, 7,281; 2. Jeff Sander, Central Mo. St., 6,530; 3. Kyle Gough, Seattle Pacific, 6,350; 4. Mike Kuoppamaki, UC Davis, 6,297; 5. Lee McCown, Angelo St., 6,284; 6. Tom Wise, Slippery Rock, 6,165; 7. Brian Spickler, Indiana (Pa.), 6,161; 8. Justin Skarbek, Slippery Rock, 5,952.