Complete resultsFAYETTEVILLE, Ark. -- The ACU men's and women's track and field teams enjoyed a big weekend at the Tyson Invitational on the University of Arkansas campus, coming up with eight automatic qualifiers in nine events for next month's NCAA Division II indoor championship meet.
The Wildcats also added 10 solid provisional qualifiers for the national meet as they finished with one individual victory and eight top-five finishes in individual events. In addition to the individual performances, both the men's and women's 4x400 relay teams posted automatic qualifying times in their races on Saturday.
The majority of both the men's and women's teams were in action Friday at the Randal Tyson Indoor Center, and that's where the Wildcats picked up the majority of their qualifiers. ACU -- running against mostly NCAA Division I opponents -- held its own as
Amos Sang won the 5000 meters with a provisional qualifying time of 14:40.71. Nic Kazingo was third with another provisional time of 14:48.75.
Serge Gasore finished fifth in the Championship section of the 5000 meters in a provisional qualifying time of 14:39.40.
In the mile,
Julius Nyango and
Daniel Maina finished third and fourth, respectively, with automatic qualifying times of 4:08.55 and 4:09.55, respectively. Also posting an automatic qualifying time for the men on Friday was freshman sprinter
Desmond Jackson, who clocked in at 6.78 seconds in the 60 meter preliminaries.
On the women's side, freshman
Winrose Karunda -- who was second at the NCAA Division II cross country championship meet last November -- finished second in the 5000 meters in an automatic qualifying time of 16:57.19.
Loice Cheboi was eighth in the event with a provisional time of 17:
13.09.
Azraa Rounds clocked an automatic qualifying mark of 55.15 in the 400 meter prelims, while
Keva Wilkins clocked a provisional qualifying time of 55.96 in the event.
On Saturday, the Wildcats' 4x400 relay team posted a sixth-place finish in the event in a time of 3:13.14 that is the best in NCAA Division II by more than three seconds. On the women's side, the 4x400 relay team blistered the track in 3:41.44 to record the top time in the nation in the event by more than three seconds. ACU's time of 3:44.91 from the Texas Tech Invitational on Jan. 26 was the previous best mark in the nation.
Triple-jumper
Davy Manga finished eighth in the championship section of the event on Saturday, but his mark of 51-10.50 was an automatic qualifying mark and is the second-best mark in the nation. Maina also posted an automatic qualifying time in the 800 meters, finishing fourth in 1:51.67.
Gerald Chenyi in the triple jump (49-3.50) and
Julius Nyango in the 800 meters (1:53.46) posted provisional qualifying marks on Saturday.
On the women's side,
Mary Mwangi finished 12th in the 800 meters with an automatic qualifying time of 2:13.29.
Venessa Whittle finished two spots behind Mwangi in the 800 meters in a provisional qualifying time of 2:13.97.
ACU RESULTS AT TYSON INVITATIONAL
Friday, Feb. 15 -- Saturday, Feb. 16, 2008
Tyson Indoor Track Center / Fayetteville, Ark.
FRIDAY, FEB. 15
Men
60 hurdles (preliminaries) --
Billy Walker, 8.10;
Andrew McDowell, 8.13
Long jump -- 2.
Ramon Sparks, 24-7.00; 23.
Tim Harding, 22-1.00
Women
60 meters (preliminaries) --
Kim Prather, 7.72
400 meters (preliminaries) --
Azraa Rounds, 55.15;
Keva Wilkins, 55.96
5000 meters (preliminaries) -- 2.
Winrose Karunda, 16:57.19; 8.
Loice Cheboi, 17:13.09
60 hurdles (preliminaries) --
Shawna-Kaye Thompson, 9.28
Weight throw -- 20.
Jessica Sloss, 53-0.00
SATURDAY, FEB. 16
Men
800 meters -- 4.
Daniel Maina, 1:51.67; 9.
Julius Nyango, 1:53.46
4x400 relay -- 6. Abilene Christian, 3:13.14
Triple jump -- 8.
Gerald Chenyi, 49-3.50; 14.
Ramon Sparks, 48-7.50
Triple jump (Championship) -- 8.
Davy Manga, 51-10.50
Women
200 meters (preliminaries) --
Kim Prather, 24.88;
Shawna-Kaye Thompson, 25.24
800 meters -- 12.
Mary Mwangi, 2:!3.29; 14.
Venessa Whittle, 2:!3.97
4x400 relay -- 7. Abilene Christian, 3:41.44
Shot put -- 32.
Kelli Clements, 44-1.50
