Five Wildcats to represent USA

Thomas, Woods, Dilworth, Grimes and Moore named to team

ABILENE -- Five former ACU track and field standouts have been named to the United States team for the Pan American Games, Aug. 5-9 in Santa Domingo, Dominican Republic.

Named to the team were long jumper Kevin Dilworth, high jumper Terrance Woods, sprinter Mickey Grimes, 400-meter hurdler Eric Thomas and decathlete Stephen Moore. The Pan American Games is the last major world track and field meet before the IAAF World Championships begin Aug. 22 in Paris, France.

Thomas is the reigning U.S. champion in the 400-meter hurdles, and has qualified for the U.S. team at the World Championships. The 2000 U.S. Olympian won the national championship in the 400-meter hurdles in June with a time of 48.76. Earlier this year won the IAAF Grand Prix outdoor championship in a time of 49.06. Thomas ran at ACU in 1995 where he finished second in the 400-meter hurdles at the outdoor championships and fifth at the U.S. championships.

Dilworth, the 1999 U.S. Outdoor champion in the long jump, was fifth at this year's outdoor championship meet with a mark of 25 feet, 4.75 inches. He was sixth at the 2001 World Indoor Championships and seventh at the 1999 World Outdoor Championships.

Woods is hoping he can use the Pan American Games to secure his spot on Team USA for the World Championships in Paris. Woods finished third last month at the U.S. Outdoor Championships with a mark of 7-5.25. However, that mark did not meet the World Championship "A" qualifying standard of 7-7.00.

Woods won six NCAA Division II individual national championships in both the high jump and triple jump during his ACU career, and in the spring of 2002 he capped his career by winning the outdoor championship in the triple jump and earning the NCAA Division II Male Track and Field Athlete of the Year award.

Grimes, who has represented the United States on several 4x100 relay teams and in the 100 meters around the globe, will be in the 4x100 relay pool, along with several other athletes, including Tarleton State's Olan Coleman. In 2001, Grimes was on the gold-medal winning United States 4x100 relay team at the World Championships. He won the 1998 NCAA Division II indoor national championship in the 55 meters while at ACU.

Moore has become one of the top decathletes in the United States after an all-America career at ACU. He won the 1996 NCAA Division II national championship in the decathlon, and the 1999 outdoor championship in the long jump. Last month at the U.S. Outdoor Championships, he finished fourth in the decathlon with a point total of 8,010 points.