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EMPORIA, Kan. -- ACU distance standout Nicodemus Naimadu won his two specialities, as expected, and freshman Jordan Johnson scored a surprise victory in the 400 to pace the Abilene Christian University men's team to its fifth straight victory in the NCAA Division II outdoor track and field championships Saturday.
The Wildcats' championship wasn't secured until senior pole vaulter Cory Aguilar scored four points in the final event of the meet, giving ACU 80 points to 77.5 for St. Augustine's. The Falcons led 77.5-76 after the 4x400 relay, but it was Aguilar's finish that put the Wildcats over the top.
The ACU women battled favored Lincoln to the final event before falling 93 points to 86. The same two teams were 1-2 at the 2006 indoor meet, and Lincoln captured its fourth straight outdoor title.
Naimadu opened Saturday's running events with an easy win in the steeplechase in 8:59.90, but his win in the 5,000 later was more difficult. After several lead changes, he sprinted past the leaders in the final straightaway to win in 14:47.90 for his eighth NCAA individual win.
Johnson led the field into the final curve in the 400, then the powerfully built rookie held off the other finalists to win in 46.24 after battling a strong headwind in the final 100 meters. The sprint relay team also contributed 10 points with a win in 39.79, the fastest time in NCAA Division II this season with Johnson on the anchor.
The Wildcat men were also runner-up in the 1600 relay with Johnson taking the second lap in 46.7 and Bobby Tatum anchoring in 46.4. But St. Augustine's ran 3:08.78 to win ahead of ACU's 3:08.88.
"We did exactly what was predicted," coach Don D. Hood said of his men's team. "That was pure purple heart. Everybody did exactly what was expected of them."
ACU got 11 points from triple jumpers Vladyslav Gorbenko and Yevgen Pashchenko, Marvin Bien-Aime was sixth in the 100 and third in the 200, and Aguilar became a four-time scorer in the pole vault with fifth place anf four key points.
Trina Cox was the only winner for the ACU women Saturday. The favorite in the steeplechase battled the hot, windy conditions to win in 10:27.71. She was also third in the 5,000 later in 17:34.94.
ACU was runner-up in both women's relays. Lincoln led all the way in the sprint relay to win in 45.02 with ACU trailing in 45.48. In the 1600 relay, the Wildcats led most of the way thanks to Keva Wilkins' strong lead lap, but the Tigers ran down freshman anchor Azraa Rounds and won in 3:37.00. ACU ran its fastest time of the season, finishing in 3:37.35. (3:37.35).
In the women's competition, freshman Kim Prather was fifth in both sprints, Olha Kryv'yak was sixth in the 1,500, Denise Morgan was fifth in the 800, Jessica Hunt ran 11.74 for fourth in the 100, and Wilkins was third in the 400 in 52.98.
"We had our chances in the women's race," Hood said. "Lincoln stepped up and won it. We got all we could. We've got to be able to do some more recruiting and compete in more events. But if you're going to go down, go down fighting. And that's what we did."
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