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Dilworth, Moore, Pearce, Barnes shine in summer meets

While some ACU students spend summer working part-time jobs or relaxing from their studies, a select few compete in track and field meets around the world.

Five former ACU standouts spent their summers doing the latter, and all of them enjoyed great success, none more than Kevin Dilworth ('96), who won the long jump at the U.S. Track and Field Championships in Eugene, Ore., in late June.

Dilworth jumped 26-7.75 to win the event and qualify for the U.S. national team that participated in the World Championships in Spain in late August.

Also competing at the U.S. Championships were former hurdler Eric Thomas ('96), who finished fourth in the 400 hurdles at 48.95, and former decathlete Stephen Moore, who finished fifth with 7,864 points.

Moore, who was a heartbreaking runner-up in the decathlon at the NCAA Division II national outdoor meet in May, also finished second at the World University Games in Spain in July and second at the U.S.-Germany decathlon dual meet in Aachem, Germany, in August.

Moore cracked the 8,000-point barrier for the first time in his career at the World University Games when he scored 8,028 points to finish second.

He topped 8,000 again at the dual meet with Germany with 8,037 as a runnerup to Germany's Mike Maczey.

"I really looked at 8,000 points as a big barrier. My coaches told me that once you get over that, it seems easier and easier to do," said Moore.

"My next goal is the Olympic team, and I think it's a real possibility," he said. "It's taken 8,400 points to qualify for the last three Olympic teams, and I think adding another 350 points to my score is really possible."

Another former student-athlete who's found success abroad this summer is Jason Pearce ('99), who won the NCAA Division II pole vault in 1996 and finished third in 1999.

Pearce, who maintains citizenship in the U.S. and Canada, won the Canadian national championship in July with a jump of 17-3.5 in wet and windy conditions.

Pearce then went on to the Pan American Games, where he finished third with a jump of 17-4.75.

Delloreen Ennis-London (see story below) also has found much success in the 100-meter hurdles, winning four events and placing second in two others.

And Tracey Barnes ('99), a 14-time national champion at ACU, finished second at the Jamaican national championships in the 400 to qualify for the World Championships and secure a spot on the Jamaican Olympic team.

Jamaican hurdler and ACU senior Ennis-London on fast track to 2000 Olympics

Some graduates find the transition from college life to the real world to be a demanding experience. That's not so, however, for Delloreen Ennis-London, who made the jump from ACU to the competitive world of the European track and field circuit just fine, thank you very much.

Ennis-London, who plans to graduate from ACU in December, finished her collegiate career in May as the most dominant hurdler in the history of NCAA Division II track and field. She won all eight short hurdle national championships (55-meter hurdles indoors and 100-meter hurdles outdoors) in her four years, the only Division II athlete to ever do so.

In 1999, she also won 100-meter hurdles at both the Texas Relays and Penn Relays, the latter with a wind-aided 12.60, the fastest time ever run by a collegiate hurdler.

In her first meet after completing her eligibility at ACU, she won the Jamaican national title, running a 12.71 in the final to qualify for both the World Championships (held in late August in Seville, Spain) and the Olympic Games next year in Sydney, Australia.

She then went to Europe where she won her first meet, running a 13.01 to win at a meet in Pardova, Italy, on June 26. About 10 days later, she ran a 12.80 to win in Luzon, Switzerland, then followed that with wins in Chania, Crete, (12.71) on July 26 and in Barcelona, Spain, (12.86) on July 29.

"It's obviously more competitive on this level," Ennis-London said from her temporary home in England. "I knew that once I stepped on the track in college, I was going to win. On the circuit there are no guarantees; everybody's going to give you their best shot, and you can't take anyone for granted."

Ennis-London, married to former ACU quartermiler Lincoln London since last December, has been going at this almost without a break since the ACU indoor season started in January. In the 20 times she's run in a final since then, she's won 15 (10 as a Wildcat, one at the Jamaican championships and four in Europe), finished second twice, fourth twice and sixth once.

"I'm pretty happy with the way things are going right now," Ennis-London said. "I knew that coming out of college I was going to face tougher competition, and I haven't been surprised by that. I'm happy with my times and the way I've run, but I'm surprised that my body has held up this long without much of a break. I'm happy with the way I've performed."

And now with a summer of experience behind her, Ennis-London expects a better 2000 season, one that will include a chance to represent her country at the Olympic Games.

"I try not to think about that too much right now," she said.

"It took a while, but I think it's finally sunk in that I'll be running in the Olympics."

And, no doubt, running quite well. 

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