Kryv'yak, men's DMR hightlight weekend

ACU men, women perform well at Tyson Invitational

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. -- Abilene Christian distance runner Olha Kryv'yak, the men's distance medley relay team and Nicodemus Naimadu highlighted a strong weekend performance by the Wildcat men's and women's track and field teams at the Tyson Indoor Invitational at the Randal Tyson Track Center on the University of Arkansas campus.

On Friday, Kryv'yak posted an automatic qualifying time in the women's mileas she finished fourth in the event.  Kryv'yak, Trina Cox and Adeh Mwamba each competed in the invitational mile, and Kryv'yak finished fourth in 4:51.91 to automatically qualify for the event at next month's NCAA Division II indoor championship meet in Boston.  Cox (sixth in 4:54.98) and Mwamba (seventh in 4:55.65) posted very strong provisional marks for the indoor championship meet.

On the men's side, the quartet of Bernard Manirakiza, Marvin Essor, Lucky Hadebe and Nicodemus Naimadu helped ACU finish fourth in the distance medley relay with a time of 9:40.55, one of the top times in the event in ACU history.  This is the first year that the event will be run at the indoor championship meet, so there are no automatic qualifying times.  ACU's time, however, is 10 seconds than it's previous best this season (9:50.26), and is now the best in the nation by at least 15 seconds.

On Saturday, junior Cory Aguilar finished third in the unseeded pole vault with a mark of 16 feet, 10.0 inches, which is an automatic qualifying mark for next month's NCAA Division II indoor championship meet in Boston.  Aguilar had already posted a provisional mark, but his vault Saturday automatically qualifies him for the indoor championship meet.

Naimadu -- the reigning NCAA Division II individual cross country champion -- posted automatic qualifying marks in the 5000 meters and the mile.  He won the championship 5000 meters with a sparkling time of 13:41.08.  He was sixth in the championship mile in 4:05.56.

In the unseeded mile, Bernard Manirakiza posted a provisional qualifying mark with a fifth-place finish and time of 4:09.78.  Ricardo Johnson also posted a provisional qualifying mark in the 400 meters, finishing in 48.66.  Delt Cockrell also posted a provisional mark in the 200 meters, finishing in 21.79.

Yevgen Pashchenko won the unseeded triple jump with a mark of 51 feet, 5.0 inches, which is a better provisional mark than the one he had already posted this year.  Ben Washington fifth in the championship triple jump with a mark of 51-5.00, which is also a better provisional mark. Laurant Ngirakamaro finished fifth in the unseeded 5000 meters, covering the distance in 14:30.01 to improve his provisional mark.

On the women's side, Adeh Mwamba posted a provisional mark in the 800 meters, finishing 18th in 2:15.19.  Angie Aguilar and Val Gorter tied for first in the unseeded pole vault with vaults of 12-8.75.  Both had already provisionally qualified for the national meet, but Saturday's vaults better their provisional marks.

Katie Eckley was 15th in the championship pole vault (12-2.75), which is also a better provisional mark.  The Wildcats' distance medley relay team won the event with a time of 11:53.83, which is 24 seconds than their previous best time, and is a provisional qualifying mark.  Denise Morgan also improved her provisional time in the 800 meters, finishing seventh with a time of 2:12.50.  Jessica Hunt also improved her provisional time in the 200 meters with a time of 25.04.