Wildcat men set to defend outdoor title

ACU women looking for first national crown since 2000

WALNUT, Calif. -- If it's the NCAA Division II outdoor track and field championships, it must be ACU vs. the field for the men's and women's team championships.

This year will be no different as both teams head to the west coast for this weekend's 42nd outdoor championship meet.  This year's meet is in California for the 10th time, but the first time since 1996 when ACU made NCAA history by completing a sweep of all four NCAA Division II championships in Riverside, Calif.  That year, ACU became the first school in NCAA history to win both the men's indoor and outdoor titles and the women's indoor and outdoor titles in the same  athletic year.  The Wildcats did it again in 1999.

This year, both ACU teams qualified 13 individuals and both relay squads for the championships, giving both teams title hopes going into the meet.

The men have more than title hopes going into the meet; they should be considered the favorite to capture their third straight outdoor title and sixth straight NCAA Division II track and field title overall.  After winning the indoor and outdoor titles in both 2002 and 2003, the ACU men stretched their streak to five straight in March by winning the indoor national championship.

Lurking behind the Wildcats, though, figures to be old rival St. Augustine's (N.C.), the only school since 1999 to have won a national championship indoors or outdoors, other than ACU.  St. Aug's won the indoor and outdoor titles in 2001 and the outdoor title in 1998, the only interruption in a string that has seen ACU win 14 of the last 17 men's national championships dating back to 1996, a string of domination unmatched on the NCAA Division II level.

The Wildcats should be in position to extend that streak this weekend with athletes qualified in 11 events, and both relay teams among the best in the nation.  Senior middle-distance standout Bernard Manirakiza will close out his outdoor career this weekend with the hope of repeating as the national champion in both the 800 meters and 1500 meters.  Manirakiza has won five national championships, and two more could put him in the class of former ACU greats Bobby Morrow, Freddie Williams, John Kemboi, Savieri Ngidhi and Mark Witherspoon as athletes who won at least seven individual national championships.

"Hopefully Bernard can come up with the kind of performance we've grown accustomed to from him," ACU head coach Jon Murray said.  "He'll have some good competition from several others in both races, but he's looked great in practice the last couple of weeks."

Also making his last appearance as a Wildcat will be senior sprinter Christie VanWyk, who has yet to win an individual national championship.  However, last Thursday at the McMurry Twilight Open, VanWyk turned in a legal-wind 10.09 in the 100 meters, the fourth-fastest time in the world this year behind only Maurice Greene (10.02 and 10.04) and world-record-holder Tim Montgomery (10.08).  The 10.09 is the fastest time in NCAA Division II this year and the fourth-fastest legal-wind time in NCAA Division II history.

"Christie is healthy, and his practices and performances the last few weeks have been outstanding," Murray said of VanWyk, who will run both the 100 meters and 200 meters, and on the 4x100 relay. "Hopefully he can carry that over to the weekend."

In field events, reigning indoor triple jump champion Yevgen Pashchenko is the top-ranked triple-jumper in the nation going into the meet, and he also ranks fifth in the nation in the long jump.  Defending outdoor triple jump champion Ben Washington is ranked 10th in the nation going into the meet, but he was hampered by an injured right ankle throughout most of the outdoor season.  However, Murray said Washington, who injured his ankle at the Oliver Jackson Open on March 27, will be close to 100 percent for this weekend's meet.

Manuel Brandeborn, the 2002 outdoor national champion in the shot put, is ranked No. 2 in the nation in the discus and No. 9 in the nation in the shot put, and should give the Wildcats points in both events.  Both ACU relay teams are ranked in the nation's top six with the 4x100 relay team having posted a season-best time of 40.43 to rank sixth, and the 4x400 relay team a season-best time of 3:08.48 to rank No. 2 in the nation behind St. Augustine's.

"We've qualified enough people to give us a great chance to win the national championship," Murray said.  "We've got a wide spectrum of of athletes throughout the meet, and that makes you expect great things if those guys compete and perform like they should."

On the women's side, the Wildcats will be trying to win their first national championship of any kind since winning the 2000 indoor title, and their first outdoor title since the 1999 championships in Emporia, Kan.  The Wildcats, in fact, are currently in the midst of the longest dry spell in the program's history, not having won a national championship in their last eight tries.

The Wildcats, however, qualified 13 athletes in 11 individual events, as well as both the 4x100 and 4x400 relay, giving them hope of challenging Adams State (Colo.), defending champion Lincoln (Mo.) and longtime rival St. Augustine's for the national title.  Lincoln only qualified nine athletes in six individual events and both relays, but they have the No. 2 athlete in the 100 meters (Simmy George), Nos. 1 and 2 athletes in the 200 meters (Moya Thompson and George), the No. 1 athlete in the 400 meters (Marlene Smith) and both of the nation's top-ranked relay teams going into the meet.

The team that should be the pre-meet favorite, though, is Adams State, which qualified 14 athletes in 10 individual events, as well as both relay teams in an effort to win its first-ever outdoor national championship.  Adams State has five athletes qualified in the 5000 meters and four in the 10,000 meters, meaning Adams could post a big score early and make the favorites chase it the rest of the meet.

"Adams State will be extremely tough to beat, and should be considered the favorite going into the meet, followed by Lincoln, us, St. Augustine's and North Dakota State," Murray said.  "It's going to take an entire team effort for us to get into the top two teams.  Everyone has to perform to their capabilities, and there can't be many mistakes."

Jessica Hunt and her sister, Brooklyn Hunt, will each compete in four events, while Sofi Hildenborg and Stephanie Warren will each compete in three events.  Jessica Hunt will run in the 100 meters and 200 meters and on both relays, while her sister will compete in the 200 meters and 400 meters and on both relay teams.  Hildenborg, meanwhile, will compete in the 400 meters and on both relays, while Warren will compete in the high jump, triple jump and long jump.