ACU men win title, women 2nd
ACU men rally past ASU; Rambelles win 2nd straight title
Results
SAN ANGELO -- The dominance in the running events by the ACU men and the overall depth of the Angelo State women paid off Saturday in Lone Star Conference championships for each team at the ASU Multipurpose Complex.
The ACU men won their 12th straight LSC title as they prepare to defend their NCAA Division II outdoor national championship at the outdoor championship meet, which will be May 26-28 at Elmer Gray Stadium in ACU. Angelo State -- which last year became the only other LSC team besides ACU to win an LSC women's track and field title -- won its second straight title as ACU once again failed to overcome a huge point deficit going into the running events.
The Wildcat men, scoreless in the throwing events, won eight of the 10 running events and both relays and scored 217 points to take their 12th straight league title. The Rambelles outscored runner-up Abilene Christian 78-12 in the throwing events and won only one running event and one relay, but they held on to win, 243 points to 227, over the Wildcats. Last year the margin was one point, 222-221, in the ASU win in Kingsville that broke a 20-year winning streak for ACU.
The ACU women, who at one time trailed by 116 points, won nine running events, including the sprint relay, but the Wildcats finished first in only one field event (pole vault).
Double winners Marvin Bien-Aime, Lucky Hadebe and Nicodemus Naimadu led the Wildcat men.
Bien-Aime was the sprint king, taking the 100 in 10.50 and 200 in 21.04 and handling the second position on ACU's 400 relay that crossed the finish line first in 40.55. Hadebe coasted to wins of 4:01.64 in the 1500 and 1:50.11 in the 800. It was the 13th straight LSC meet for the Wildcats to take the men's 1500. Naimadu added to Friday's meet record in the steeplechase with 14:29.56 to take Saturday's 5,000.
The ASU men finished as runner-up for the sixth straight year with 158 points. Texas A&K-Kingsville was third with 93 points, and Tarleton State was fifth with 75.
The ASU men outscored ACU 34-0 in the throwing events, but couldn't overcome the Wildcats' talent in the jumping events and running events. ACU won three of the four jumping events, including the pole vault (Cory Aguilar at 16-11) and triple jump (Vladyslav Gorbenko at 48-11) on Saturday. It was Aguilar's third straight vault title.
ACU enjoyed comfortable scoring advantages of 136-73 in the running events, 20-10 in the relays, and 60-25 in the jumping events.
The Angelo State women picked up another victory from Alissa Miller Saturday (with 38-71/2 in the triple jump) and two from Culley Dawson and held off the hard-charging Wildcat women in the running events. It was Miller's fifth individual win of the meet, likely an LSC record, and she scored 64 points.
The ACU women had three double winners, including Addeh Mwamba in the 1500 and 3000. A four-time winner last year, she ran 4:43.83 and 10:11.85 and also crossed the line first in the 800 in 2:12.75, but later was disqualified to give the victory to teammate Denise Morgan in 2:15.25.
Mwamba was disqualified for cutting in too soon in the first 100 meters of the 800 by the meet referee. ACU head coach Jon Murray appealed the decision to the games committee, but it was upheld. That lowed a 24-1 ACU cushion in the 800 to 18-3 over ASU.
Tina Cox ran 17:45.93 to win the 5,000 to add to Friday's steeplechase crown, and Jessica Hunt was a double sprint winner in 12.01 and 24.64. ACU led in the running event points, 152-77, over ASU. But ACU never got closer than four points, 231-227, after the 3,000.
The rally by the ACU women suffered from the absence of Shawna Kay Thompson, the pre-meet leader in the 100 and 100 hurdles who didn't compete because of a leg injury last week, and Brooklyn Hunt, who had the fastest time in Friday's 400 qualifing but pulled up with an injury in the first curve.
The ACU women kept their streak alive in the vault (all seven titles to the Wildcats) when Aguilar's wife Angie won in 12-51/2.
Ben Washington, ranked first in the triple jump and second in the long jump before the meet, also did not compete for the ACU men.
The last loss by the ACU men at the LSC meet was 1992 in Kingsville when Angelo State edged the Wildcats, 111-109.
