Results
MANKATO, Minn. – The ACU men and women wrapped up competition at the NCAA Division II indoor track and field championship meet Saturday with two individual national championships, but no team hardware.
Senior
Nick Jones added a fourth individual national championship to his personal trophy case, while junior Amanda Ouedraogo won the women's triple jump.
The ACU men finished with 12 points with Parker Petty's seventh-place finish in the heptathlon accounting for the team's other two points. The ACU women also finished with 12 points with the 4x400 relay team's seventh-place finish accounting for the rest of the team's points.
One year after winning the team national championship with only four athletes, the ACU men were nowhere near the top of the standings as the Wildcats finished 20th with those 12 points. Grand Canyon (Ariz.) won its first NCAA Division II national championship with 54 points, while Adams State (Colo.) finished second with 47 points.
On the women's side, Grand Valley State (Mich.) – the heavy favorite entering the meet – didn't disappoint, rolling to the team title with 94 points with Adams State finishing a distant second with 51 points. Lincoln (Mo.) was third with 43 points, while Central Missouri was fourth with 42 points. ACU finished 14th with those 12 points.
Jones has been the dominant discus thrower in NCAA Division II outdoor track and field since he burst onto the scene as a freshman in 2008. He won the title in 2008 and 2009 before sitting out the 2010 season, and then won it again last May in record-setting fashion, putting up meet records within 10 minutes of each other en route to winning a third individual title in the event.
He was second in the shot put at last May's outdoor championship meet, and was ranked third in the country entering the championship meet behind Daniel Vanek of Grand Valley State and Derrick Vicars of Findlay (Ohio).
But Jones had the lead from the outset, throwing 17.72 meters (58 feet, 1.75 inches) on his first attempt of the competition. Vicars regained the lead on his final throw of the prelims with a toss of 17.97 meters (58-11.50), but Jones topped him on his final throw of the prelims with a mark of 17.98 meters (59-0.00).
That mark stood throughout the rest of the competition and Jones had his title, posting a mark of 18.02 meters (59-1.50) on the final throw of the competition. Vicars was second at 58-11.50 with John Pemberton of Tiffin third at 57-7.75.
Vanek missed the competition with an apparent injury, costing him a chance to duel Jones and Vicards for the title.
Shortly after Jones won his shot put championship, Ouedraogo began her quest to win the women's triple jump. She only needed one jump, and she made sure it was a good one.
On her first attempt of the competition, Ouedraogo posted a mark of 12.84 meters (42-1.50) and that put her in the lead for good. That was the only jump she made that counted as she fouled on each of her last five attempts of the competition.
Ouedraogo is a former Lone Star Conference champion and two-time NCAA runner-up in the triple jump. A native of Hauts de Seine, France, she recorded a second-round distance of 41 feet - 10 inches (12.75m) at last year's indoor championships to earn the silver medal, and then registered a wind-aided leap of 41-8.75 (12.71) during the outdoor championships.
Ouedraogo entered the indoor championship meet as the No. 1 triple jumper in Division II track and field after posting a jump of 42-4.75 (12.92m) to win the championship heat of the New Balance Collegiate Invitational. The mark was an indoor personal best and two centimeters shy of tying her outdoor career mark of 12.94 meters (42-5.50).
Petty moved into the points with a solid second-day showing in the heptathlon, earning all-America status and giving the Wildcats two points with his seventh-place finish. He finished the two-day competition with 5,032 points.
Petty started Saturday slowly by finishing 12th in the 60-meter hurdles to earn 737 points. But he finished tied for third in the pole vault (14-9.00) for 760 points and then won the final event – the 1000 meters – in 2:42.28 to earn 848 points.
The ACU women's 4x400 relay team – which was the last team taken into the field of 11 – scrapped its way to a seventh-place finish to earn two points. The quartet of freshman Karolyn Palmer, junior Shennae Steele, junior Ayesha Rumble and senior Karla Hope finished in 3:50.06 to just nip Winston-Salem State (N.C.) – which came in at 3:50.27 – for seventh place.
