
'Cats storm out of gate; Lady 'Cats off to slow start
By BILL HART Special to the Abilene Reporter-News April 27, 2000 RALEIGH, N.C. - The Abilene Christian University men ran like defending champions Thursday night at the NCAA Division II outdoor track championships at Paul Derr Stadium. And they are on target to repeat. The Wildcats qualified Nic Alexander and Julieon Raeburn in the 200, Gilbert Tuhaboyne, Alfred Rugema and John Kemboi in the 1,500, Jason Prann in the 400 hurdles and the 4x100 relay team. However, the ACU women have their work cut out if they are to repeat, coach Jon Murray admitted. The Lady Wildcats qualified only the 4x100 relay for Saturday's finals and Dawnyel Newhouse was fourth in the long jump after finishing second last year. Raeburn had the best qualifying time in the 200 (20.74) and Kemboi the best 1,500 clocking, (3:50.01). Rugema was second and Tuhabonye ninth, but it appeared they were just running to qualify. "We expected all three to qualify and we're hoping they will be in the top five Saturday night,'' Murray said. If there was a disappointment for the men, it was Oscar Meneses not qualifying in the 200. He has been injured most of the year and his leg tightened up during the race. As a result, he didn't run on the sprint relay team. But he wasn't needed as younger brother Jose ran strong in the Wildcats' 39.93. The freshman was joined by sophomore Raeburn, freshman Alexander and another freshman, J.R. Holder, and they won handily. "That was that foursome's best time of the year and I think we can run faster,'' Murray said. "Oscar is faster than Jose, but we will have to wait and see how he feels before we decide who we are going to run.'' Prann, who ran into step problems in the final 100 meters, had the third-best qualifying time, 52.01. It was a long day for Newhouse and her twin, Shawntel, and being stuck in the hotel elevator for 45 minutes didn't have her in the best frame of mind when she got to the track on the North Carolina State campus. She jumped 19-7 on her third preliminary jump, which moved her from eighth place to fourth place. Lara Woods of Albany and Tarleton State also jumped 19-7 but Newhouse had a better second jump, the first tiebreaker. "We stayed in that elevator for what seemed a much longer time, and my head still hurts from the ordeal,'' Newhouse said. "We could sit down, so we didn't have to stand up all that time. We could get the inside door open, but not the outside one. Finally, they got us a screwdriver so I could pry it open. It was horrible.'' Newhouse then ran the first leg on the sprint relay that had the eighth-best qualifying time (47.03), prior to the long jump finals, but she felt that "helped wake me up.'' All three final attempts were over 19 feet. "We had two bad handoffs, so I know we can do better (in the relay),'' Murray said. "But Friday is going to be a key day for us with the high jump and the pole vault finals and the hurdle preliminaries. We have to do well to have a chance at repeating.'' Lee McCown of Robert Lee and Angelo State is fourth in the decathlon after the first five events, and Tarleton State's Alison Brown and Kate Wright are 11th and 12th, respectively after the first day of the heptathlon. Truman State scored 11 points to hold a narrow lead in the women's division, while California-Davis is ahead in the men's race with 23 points, followed by St. Augustine's with 18. MENDecathlonPoints 1. Chad Froelker, Truman State, 3,792; 100 1. Froelker 11.06 (3,792; Long jump 1. Orr 22-5 3/4; Shot put 1. McCown 46-4 1/4 (736); High jump 1. Kassler 6-7 (813); 400 1. Froelker 48.09 (905); FINALSHammer throw 1. Rich Ulm, Ashland, 200-4; Pole vault 1. Andrei Skvortsov, Centra Missouri, 17-4 1/2; Long jump 1. Dane Magloire, St, Augustine's, 24-8 1/4; 10,000 1. Brandon Leslie, Adams State, 30:15.68; WOMENHeptathlonPoints 1. Kis Schiemenz, Northern Colorado, 3,472; 100 hurdles 1. Davis 13.98 (981); High jump 1. Schiemenz 5-10 1/2; Shot put 1. Widman 42-10 3/4 (732); 200 1.Higgins 24.50 (933); FINALSHammer throw 1. Janet Boettcher, Nebraska-Kearney, 189-1; Long jump 1. Nitkita Lewis, Slippery Rock, 20-1; 10,000 1. Sylvia Chelimo, Gardner-Webb, 35:35.68; Copyright ©2000, Abilene Reporter-News / Texnews / E.W. Scripps Publications -30- Archived News Releases - Current ACU News and Events
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