Wildcats off to good start

Pashchenko, men's DMR take wins on first day

BOSTON, Mass. -- The Abilene Christian University men's track and field team made a good start toward its fourth straight NCAA Division II indoor national championship Friday with two victories on opening day.

The Wildcats, as expected, dominated the field in the distance medley relay, winning in 9:48.04.  And Yevgen Pashchenko, jumper from the Ukraine, captured the third national championship of his Wildcat career with avictory in the long jump at 24-11.75.

The Wildcats scored 20 points Friday to 18 for runner-up Cal State-Bakersfield and 11.5 for Minnesota State.  The ACU women's team also put itself in contention for a title, its first since 2000.  The Wildcats stand second in the women's race with 21.5 pointsafter two runner-up finishes Friday, trailing the leader Cal State-Bakersfield, which scored 23.  Nebraska-Omaha is third at 18.

Freshman distance runner Nicodemus Naimadu, last fall's NCAA Division II national champion in cross country, anchored coach Jon Murray's distance medley relay team.  He was joined by Bernard Manirakiza, Marvin Essor and Lucky Hadebe.  Adams State was a distant second at 9:57.58.

Pashchenko won his first NCAA long jump title after taking both the indoor and outdoor triple jump titles last year as a sophomore.  He topped TrumanState's James Walton, who jumped 24-3.

In men's preliminary events Friday, advancing to Saturday's finals for the Wildcats were Hadebe and Manirakiza in the mile, Essor in the 400, Hadebe and Martin O'Kello in the 800, and Marvin Bien-Aime in the 200.

Hadebe (1:52.24) and O'Kello (1:52.41) had the first and third best times in the 800 qualifying.

ACU won the NCAA Division II men's indoor meet with 74 points in 2002, 58 points in 2003 and 55 points last year.

The ACU women got their points Friday in the pole vault and distance medley relay, which was a close second at 11:33.35 to Adams State's 11:32.06.  In the vault, Val Gorter was runner-up to Minnesota State's Amanda Frame, who cleared 13-1.5 to Gorter's 12-9.5.  Wildcat vaulters Angie Aguilar (fifth at 12-5.5) and Katie Eckley (seventh at 12-1.5) also scored for coach Murray.

ACU's Olha Kryv'yak and Trina Cox, who both ran on the distance medley relay team, posted the top two times in the mile qualifying.  Kryv'yak ran 4:50.37, and Cox came in at 4:50.50.  They were joined on the relay by Keva Wilkins and Adeh Mwamba.

The only other member of the ACU women's team to advance after Friday's preliminaries was Mwamba with 2:11.59 in the 800.