Essor wins gold in Turkey
8/19/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Track and Field, Track & Field
Essor wins gold in Turkey
ACU quartermiler wins 400 meters at World University Games
IZMIR, Turkey - Abilene Christian University senior quarter-miler Marvin Essor won the gold medal in the 400 meters Wednesday at the World University Games at Ataturk Stadium.
Essor -- the reigning NCAA Division II indoor and outdoor champion in the 400 meters -- won the gold medal for his home country of Jamaica in 45.99 seconds. His teammate, Dwayne Barrett, was second in 46.14, edging out Yuki Yamaguchi of Japan, who was third in 46.15.
Essor's gold medal is the best individual finish ever by an ACU athlete at the World University Games. The previous best finish was a second-place finish by 110-meter hurdler Brian Amos in 1995 and by decathlete and current ACU assistant coach Stephen Moore in 1999. The only other gold medal won by an ACU athlete at the World University Games came in 1970 when Roger Colglazier won a gold medal on the United States' 4x400 relay team.
The win continued an amazing spring and summer for Essor, who won two individual national titles, one relay national title and two team national championships last spring at ACU. Essor, who has one indoor season of eligibility remaining at ACU, won the NCAA Division II indoor championship in the 400 meters in 47.47 before winning the outdoor championship in May with a personal-best of 45.49.
He was also part of ACU's outdoor championship in the 4x400 relay as the Wildcats won the event at the national meet for the first time since 1997 with a time of 3:07.80. The Wildcats won the team national titles at both the indoor and outdoor meets, stretching their national championship winning streak to eight straight.
