Wildcats claim LSC all-sports title

ACU wins crown by wide margin over UCO

For immediate release 28 May 2002

ABILENE -- ACU, which on Saturday capped a standout year in athletics with the men's team championship at the NCAA Division II outdoor track and field championship meet in San Angelo, captured its seventh straight Lone Star Conference all-sports championship in 2001-02.

The Wildcats racked up 125.5 points to easily outdistance second-place Central Oklahoma, which scored 78 points. Tarleton State was third with 77.5 points, Texas A&M-Kingsville was fourth with 73.5 points and Northeastern State rounded out the top five with 69.5 points.

Teams were awarded one point for each place in their final overall standing in each sport. Teams were also awarded one point for a division championship, two points for an overall conference championship, four for a regional crown, six points for a national runner-up finish and eight for a national championship.

So, for instance, the ACU men's cross country team won the conference championship in an eight-team league, earning 10 conference points. The Wildcats then earned four more for winning the regional championship and six more for finishing second at the national meet for a total of 20 points.

The all-sports championship list was compiled by the Abilene Christian University sports information office.

ACU's all-sports championship is not only its seventh straight, but also the 16th time in the last 18 years that the Wildcats have won the crown. The only other school to win the title since 1984-85 is Central Oklahoma, which won the crown in both 1990-91 and 1994-95.

ACU also shared the title with Angelo State in 1976-77, and won the title in 1974-75, its second year in the LSC. The Wildcats have won or shared 18 all-sports championships in its 29 years in the LSC.

The Wildcats won the title on the strength of winning seven of a possible 16 LSC championships, two regional titles and two national championships.

ACU won two conference championships and one regional title in the fall, winning LSC crowns in men's and women's cross country, and the South Central region championship in men's cross country. The men went on to finish second at the national cross country for the second straight year.

The Wildcats poured it on in the spring, winning five league titles ­ all in the matter of less than two weeks in mid-to-late April ­ to up their total to seven for the year. ACU won league championships in men's and women's tennis, men's and women's track and field and baseball. The women's tennis team won the Central region championship to advance to the national tournament for the seventh straight year, and the baseball team won its third straight LSC championship to advance to the South Central region tournament for the third straight year where it reached the championship game for the first time in school history.

The men's track and field team provided the school with its 49th and 50th national championships in school history this year, winning both the indoor and outdoor national championships. The ACU men have now won 26 national team championships, while the track and field program (men and women) has won 47 combined national team championships.