ACU women appear ready to challenge for title

ABILENE -- The ACU men's and women's track and field teams combined to qualify 22 invidual athletes and three relay teams for next week's NCAA Division II indoor championship meet, according to the accepted entry list that was released Tuesday.

 

The ACU women, who haven't won an NCAA team championship since winning the 2000 indoor title, have a good shot at breaking that string after they qualified 14 individuals (17 total entries) in nine events, as well as both the 4x400 and distance medley relay teams.  ACU has finished runner-up four times at the indoor championship meet since 2001, and they seem prepared to push defending indoor national champion Lincoln (Mo.) for the team title.

 

Lincoln will have 16 entries in six individual events and both relays, although the Lady Tigers only have one athlete in the field events, while ACU will have four athletes in the field events.  Another contender for the women's team title will be St. Augustine's, which will have 15 total entries in seven individual events, as well as the 4x400 relay team.

 

Headlining ACU's qualifiers is senior pole vaulter Angie Aguilar, who last week set the NCAA Division II best-ever in the event by clearing 13 feet, 7.0 inches at the Oklahoma Christian Indoor in Norman, Okla.  Aguilar is the reigning indoor and outdoor national champion in the pole vault.  Freshman Elizabeth Buyse went 12-4.75 last week to qualify in the pole vault, and she is ranked sixth going into the national meet.

 

The ACU men saw their four-year indoor championshp meet winning streak snapped last year by St. Augustine's, and regaining the title in 2007 could be difficult as the Wildcats qualified just eight individuals in seven events and the distance medley relay.  The Wildcats failed to qualify its 4x400 relay team, while St. Augustine's has the nation's top-ranked team.  St. Augustine's will have 16 entries in nine events and both relays, while the Wildcats will have 10 entries in seven events and one relay. 

 

Headlining the ACU men's qualifiers is distance standout Nicodemus Naimadu, the nation's top-ranked athlete in the 5000 meters with a time of 14:01.86, almost seven seconds better than the nation's No. 2 runner, Kim Hogarth of Western State, who has a season-best of 14:08.84.  If Naimadu wins the 5000 meters next weekend, he will tie Wildcat greats Bobby Morrow and John Kemboi for the most individual national championships won in a career with 10.

 

Naimadu is ranked No. 4 in the mile (4:07.81), and a win there could give him the school record for individual national championships with 11.  Junior pole vaulter Kyle Dennis -- who captured three national championships at Johnson County Community College -- goes into the national meet with the nation's top mark at 17-0.75.

 

The national championship meet will get started Friday, March 9, and will conclude Saturday, March 10, at the Reggie Lewis Center in Boston.

 

 

Shot put -- 7. Liga Klavina, 46-10.25; 11. Kelli Clements, 46-6.75