Wildcats in good position after first day

Wildcats keep disappointments to a minimum on first day

WALNUT, Calif. – Christie VanWyk and the rest of the men in the 100-meter field lived up to pre-meet expectations in Thursday's qualifying round, and if they can do it again Saturday, the fans at the NCAA Division II outdoor track and field championships will have something to talk about.

VanWyk, the ACU senior who last week turned in the fourth-best time in the world this year, qualified for Saturday’s final by running a 10.18, the second-best time in Thursday's preliminary heats.  ACU freshman Marvin Bien-Aime also qualified for Saturday's final after turning in a time of 10.28.

Thursday was the first day of qualifying at the outdoor championship meet at Hilmer Lodge Stadium on the campus of Mount San Antonio College, and it was an up and down day for the Wildcats, whose only points came from senior Stephanie Warren, who finished sixth in the women’s long jump for three points.

ACU's Lone Star Conference rival, Angelo State, held the team lead after the first day with 16 points, thanks to a 1-3 finish in the long jump.  LaTisha Burns won the event at 20 feet, 2.50 inches, followed by teammate Denise Scott at 19-7.00.  Warren went 18-10.00 to finish sixth and give the Wildcats their only points of the day.

The men didn't score, but did they did have a successful qualifying day with athletes qualifying for the finals in three events and the 4x100 relay.

The only real disappointment on the day for the Wildcats came in the men's and women's 400 meters where none of their three athletes qualified for Saturday's final.  On the women's side, senior Sofi Hildenborg finished 16th with a time of 57.24, and freshman Brooklyn Hunt was disqualified after a false start.  On the men's side, Marvin Essor finished 13th with a time of 47.41.

"Overall, I'd say the day went just about as expected," said ACU head coach Jon Murray, who Wednesday night was named the NCAA Division II South Central Region Men’s Coach of the Year.  "We're disappointed with the way the men's and women's 400 meters turned out, and we didn't qualify one of our men in the 1500 meters (Martin O'Kello), but, overall, we didn't have too many bad things happen.  We're still in good position on both sides to have a really good meet."

The highlight for the men was the 100 meters, which promised to be one of the best races of the day before the meet started.  It lived up to that billing as Lincoln's Lerone Clark turned in a 10.15, followed by VanWyk and Clement Campbell at 10.18.

Clark entered the meet with the best time in NCAA Division II, followed by VanWyk and Campbell.  VanWyk turned in his 10.09 (fourth in the world) last week after qualifying performances had already been posted.

ACU should pick up points on both the men's and women's side Friday with Val Gorter, Katie Eckley and Angie Aguilar competing in the women's pole vault, Warren in the women's triple jump, and Manuel Brandeborn in the men's discus. 

Here's how the Wildcats qualified in their other events Thursday on the first day of the outdoor championship meet:
    Women's 4x100 relay – ACU's quartet of Brooklyn Hunt, Jessica Hunt, Ashley Armstrong and Wafaa Taissir turned in the fourth-best time in qualifying, running a 46.32.  The Wildcats' qualifying time is their third-best time of the year.
    Defending national champion Lincoln (Mo.) Turned in the best qualifying time at 45.11, followed by St. Augustine's (N.C.) at 46.08, pre-meet favorite Adams State (Colo.) at 46.32 and ACU.  The Wildcats' Lone Star Conference rival, Angelo State, qualified sixth for the final with a preliminary time of 46.50.
    Men's 4x100 relay – The Wildcats ran a season-best time of 40.13 to qualify sixth for Saturday's final.  The quartet of Christie VanWyk, Marvin Bien-Aime, Delt Cockrell and Elton Garus-Oab was bested by Lincoln (Mo.) at 39.66, Texas A&M-Kingsville at 39.88, New York Tech at 39.94, Texas A&M-Commerce at 40.08 and St. Augustine’s (N.C.) at 40.12.
    Women's 1500 meters – ACU junior Adeh Mwamba turned in the best qualifying time for Saturday’s final, running a 4:30.93, the best qualifying time by almost five seconds.
    Mwamba – the LSC champion in the 800 meters, 1500 meters, 3000 meters and 5000 meters – finished ahead of Western State's Alisha Williams, who had the second-best qualifying time of 4:35.58.
    Men's 1500 meters – ACU senior Bernard Manirakiza began his trek toward what he hopes is two more national championships by turning in the best qualifying time for Saturday's final.
    Manirakiza, who has won five individual national championships, turned in the best qualifying time Thursday, running a 3:51.98, edging out Moses Tum of Colorado-Colorado Springs, who ran a 3:52.34.
    O'Kello failed to qualify for the final, turning in a time of 4:02.69 while running in the slow first heat.  Both Manirakiza and O'Kello will be in Friday's 800-meter preliminaries.
    Women's 100 meters – Neither Wafaa Taissir nor Jessica Hunt qualified for Saturday's final with Taissir finishing 13th in 11.91 seconds and Jessica Hunt 15th in 11.94 seconds.  Taissir's time, however, was a season-best.
    Women's 3000 meters – Olha Kryv'yak coasted – barely – into Saturday's final, turning in a qualifying time of 10:09.96 to qualify 12th and last for the final.  The fourth-ranked runner in NCAA Division II entering the meet, she has run a season-best of 9:49.68.  Thursday's best qualifying time was turned in by Sarah Bouchard of Cal State-Los Angeles, who ran a 9:58.40.
    Men's 400 hurdles – ACU freshman Stephon Greenlee qualified for Saturday's final, turning in a preliminary time of 52.55 to finish fourth in his heat and eighth overall.
   The best qualifying time of the day was turned in by St. Augustine's freshman Bershawn Jackson, whose time of 48.50 broke the 20-year-old NCAA Division II meet record of 49.11 by Angelo State great Tranel Hawkins.  Jackson's time of 48.50 is the sixth-fastest run in the world this year, right behind the 48.50 he ran May 8 in Raleigh, N.C.  Jackson has already qualified for the United States Olympic Trials with the 48.48, the best time run by an American this year.