Final results
By VICTORIA WATSON
Special to acusports.com
HOUSTON ? Abilene Christian University senior
Camille Vandendriessche made history Saturday at the NCAA Division II Indoor Track and Field Championships becoming the first male athlete to win a multi-event competition at an indoor championship meet as he captured the heptathlon.
Vandendriessche -- the two-time defending outdoor national champion in the decathlon -- won the heptathlon with 5,448 points to help the men's team to a third-place finish behind national champion St. Augustine's and runner-up Adams State. The women's team finished in eighth while Lincoln (Mo.) won the women's indoor title.
The Wildcats finished with 62 points. ACU's rival, the Flying Falcons from St. Augustine's, won the team title with 105 points and Adams State took second with 80. Ashland finished fourth with 39 points. The women's team finished with 21 points. Lincoln won the team competition with 100.5 points, while Grand Valley State took second with 48. Central Missouri was third with 41 points.
Vandendriessche opened the day with a third place finish in the 60-meter hurdles at 8.60. He remained in third overall heading into the pole vault. In his best event, though, Vandendriessche flew past the competition, vaulting a personal-best 16 feet, 8.75 inches to score 941 points and move into the lead. The next-closest competitor was Alex Lohman from Central Missouri who vaulted 15-5.
Heading into the 1,000 meter run, Vandendriessche had a 93-point lead over the field. He needed to run with the pack to seal the win. He did just that, finishing fourth in the event with a time of 2:50.33. He finished the competition 201 points ahead of second place Wayne Durham of Adams State (5247).
"Our goal for day one was just to survive and he did that," coach Don Hood said of Vandendreissche. "Day two can be kind of scary. You have the hurdles and the pole vault and those can be kind of flaky events. Camille came out and did exactly what he needed to do. He had not had a personal best in any event. He had been doing about average, but he came out in the pole vault and made it happen when it counted the most."
The Wildcats' other individual title came from Andrew McDowell in the 60-meter hurdles. McDowell, a junior from Kansas City, Mo., entered the finals ranked first after running an 8.00 in prelims. He took an early lead and blew past the competition to finish in 7.92, a personal best and school record. McDowell is the first Wildcat to ever win a 60-meter hurdle title for ACU.
“There are no words to explain how I feel right now,” McDowell said. “I knew I had a target on my back. I knew everyone knew I was the only one who could break eight seconds, so they were going to be gunning for me and basically hoping that I would bust.”
Gerald Chenyi and Ramon Sparks picked up points for the Wildcats in the triple jump. Chenyi, a senior, finished seventh with a jump of 48-7.25. Sparks, a sophomore from Kansas City, Mo., was eighth with a jump of 48-2.
Julius Nyango, a senior from Aldai, Kenya, provided a big boost for the Wildcats finishing third in both the mile and 800. Nyango finished the mile in 4:11.70 and went 1:53.69 in the 800.
Nick Jones, the defending outdoor discus national champion, also helped the Wildcats points total with his performance in the shot put. Jones, a sophomore from Amarillo, finished seventh with a throw of 56-2.5.
In the 400, Raymond Radway scored a crucial eight points for the Wildcats. Radway, a senior from McKinney, finished second in 47.70, a personal best for him. Cory Altenberg, a junior from Belton, finished fourth in the pole vault. His mark of 16-6.75 set a personal record and added five points to the Wildcats total. Amos Sang, a junior from Eldoret, Kenya, was fifth in the 5,000 with a time of 14:20.46.
The 1,600 relay team of Jordan Johnson, Desmond Jackson, Harold Jackson and Raymond Radway came into the meet ranked first, four tenths ahead of Saint Augustine's. Despite a valiant effort, the Wildcats could not overcome the Falcons and finished second in 3:14.88.
On the women's side, Kim Prather picked up the first points for the Wildcats in the 400. Prather, a senior from St. Louis, Mo., finished fourth in the event in a time of 56.14. Prather also finished fifth in the 200 in 24.61. Both marks bettered her personal bests from last season.
Kelli Clements, a senior from Amarillo, finished third in the shot put with a throw of 46-8.75. Wanda Hutson, a junior from Port-of-Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, finished eighth in the 60 in 7.54. The women's 1,600 relay team of Destinee Nixon, Kim Prather, Wanda Hutson and Azraa Rounds ran 3:51.07 to finish fourth.
