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AUSTIN -- Abilene Christian University distance runners Trina Cox and Nicodemus Naimadu stole the spotlight Friday night at the 79th annual Texas Relays with a sweep of the women's and men's 3,000-meter steeplechase races.
Each ran away from a field comprised primarily of NCAA Division I runners for the twin wins to highlight the Wildcats' performances on the third day of competition at Myers Stadium at University of Texas.
Cox, runner-up in the NCAA Division II women's steeplechase last year as a junior, broke away from the pack midway through the race and cruised to an easy victory in 10:10.93. The time was the best for a female runner in NCAA Division II history, and it established a Texas Relays women's meet record. Sarah Becker of Wichita State was a distant second in 10:38.01.
Cox lowered her personal best by nearly 16 seconds and became the first Wildcat female to win any Texas Relays event since 2002 when Maresa Cadienhead won the high hump. It was the first win in a Texas Relays running event by an ACU female since Delloreen Ennis-London captured the 100 hurdles in 1999.
Naimadu, last year's NCAA Division II steeplechase champion, battled the defending champion, Texas-El Paso's David Mutai, before winning in 8:35.87 to establish a Myers Stadium record. The two Kenyans were matched evenly through the first half of the race before the pace slowed on the fifth lap to 75.6 seconds with Naimadu taking a narrow lead.
Then the Wildcat junior picked up the pace on the sixth lap to 70.6 to take command with comfortable clearances of the water jump each lap. Mutai, also last year's WAC champion in the steeplechase for
the Miners and fifth in the NCAA Division I steeplechase as a freshman, was well back as runner-up in 8:54.38.
Naimadu moved to fifth all-time performer on the NCAA Division II list with his personal best by almost five seconds. He's a two-time NCAA Division II cross country champion with a total of six national championships after his win in the recent indoor 5,000 in Boston.
It was the first win by the ACU men at the Texas Relays since 2003 when Bernard Manirakiza won the Jerry Thompson mile.
Also Friday for coach Don D. Hood's Wildcats, Brant Gilbert (10.74) and Marvin Bien-Aime (10.75) advanced to Saturday's final in the men's college 100, and the Wildcats placed in three other final events. Failing to qualify were Jessica Hunt (12.13 in the women's 100), Shawna-Kaye Thompson (14.61 in the women's 100 hurdles), and the women's 4x100 (46.45) and 4x400 (3:41.16) relay teams.
The men's sprint medley ran 3:21.32 for second in the college division, and the women's sprint medley relay clocked 3:54.10 for ninth in the university-college division. Angie Aguilar continued her fine season of vaulting with a third place finish in section B of the women's university-college pole vault at 12-5.5. She led the competition with no misses through that height, but she failed at 12-11.5 to finish behind winner Annika Haedt of Kansas State and runner-up Jenna Blubaugh of Nebraska.
The ACU men will also competed in the college 4x100 and 4x400 relay finals Saturday. On Thursday, the women's 4x800 relay was fourth in 8:58.63, Cory Aguilar was sixth in the men's university-college pole vault section B in 16-6.75, and Thompson (61.09) and Jessica Withrow (63.34) failed to advance in the women's 400 hurdles.
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