SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Junior thrower
Kai Schmidt and the 4x400-meter relay composed of
Blaze Brownlow,
Ryan Linton, Avery and
Jared Williams came within the narrowest of margins of becoming the first Wildcats to qualify for a NCAA D1 Track and Field Championship meet in close to 30 years thanks to solid performances recorded at the NCAA West Preliminary hosted by Sacramento State this weekend.
For the better part of two decades (1970s and 80s) it was commonplace to see the Wildcats compete for and sometimes win a D1 individual national championship (Mazel Thomas in the 1987 triple jump), but not since James Browne placed 11th in the 1990 triple jump in Durham, N.C., has Abilene Christian been represented at the country's top collegiate meet.
That drought nearly reached its end several times over the weekend, including Saturday night when – in their last event – the Wildcats' 1600m relay posted a season-best time of 3:06.80 to place fifth in the third heat against the likes of Houston, Baylor, Nebraska and Kansas. The Jayhawks edged the Wildcats within in their heat by .68 seconds to earn the 12th and final qualifying spot, and in earlier heats, ACU was barely bested by 13th-place Texas Tech (3:06.15) and 14th-place Minnesota (3:06.25).
The Wildcats, however, did defeat eight other schools in the 23-team field including Power 5 Conference teams from Arizona, Oklahoma State, Illinois and Washington. All four relay participants (two freshman, two sophomores) will be back next season.
Brownlow and the Williams also ran well against some of the best quartermilers in the country earlier in the meet.
Avery Williams ran a 47.08 and was only .04 seconds off of qualifying for the next round, coming in 25th overall and only .03 behind Baylor's Trey Fields – the Texas 5A state champ in 2017. Brownlow was close behind with a 47.27 (just ahead of Terry Brown Jr. of Texas who was sixth in the Big 12 400m). Freshman
Jared Williams ran a 47.64.
Even though ACU's quarter mile relay lost out on a trip to Oregon by less than one second, at least it had the immediate satisfaction of knowing its best wasn't good enough. This wasn't the case, unfortunately, for Schmidt and associate head coach
Jerrod Cook, who endured a painful 30-minute protest review logged on behalf of Arizona freshman discus thrower Jordan Geist.
For a brief time Schmidt occupied the 12th and final qualifying spot after his best discus launch landed at 181-feet, 3 inches (55.24 meters); however, Arizona earlier requested that the meet referee and officials look at two scratches. One of these proved to be a fair throw and was marked at 181-5 (55.30m) following a thorough video review.
"It was legal," said Cook, ACU's longtime throws coach who guided six of his student-athletes to regionals. "You always want right call to be made, but it was a tough time emotionally for both of us (and the team) after hearing you finished one spot out by two inches.
"It's a hard situation to be in when you know you're capable of throwing much further, but overall it was a great and incredible year for Kai and our throwers. This will give us good motivation going into next year."
Placing behind Schmidt in the discus were his three junior-year teammates:
Josh Hunter,
Morgan Knight and
Ryan Simmons. Knight placed 19th with a distance of 174-8 (53.25m), while Hunter and Simmons finished, 28th and 29th, respectively with efforts of 168-6 (51.35m) and 168-3 (51.28m).
Knight additionally finished 37th in the shot put at 56-3 (17.14m). The Longview, Texas native was the last qualifier to Sacramento in this event, moving up 11 spots to end the season.
In the women's throwing events, juniors
Kayla Melgar and
Lonnie Smith were 25th (166-4 / 50.71m) and 35th in the discus (159-0 / 48.47m), and in the hammer, they placed 39th (179-3 / 54.63m) and 44th (166-0 / 50.59m).
At the start of the meet Friday night, recent ACU graduates Michaela and
Alexandria Hackett broke Casi Florida's school record in the 10,000-meter run with their personal bests of 33:50.99 (23rd) and 33:51.73 (24th). Florida's previous record of 34:07.55 stood for more than 22 years as she recorded this historic mark at the 1996 Penn Relays.
In setting the varsity 10K record, Michaela bested her previous lifetime best by 28 seconds, while twin sister Allie smoked her old PR by more than 30-seconds.
The Hacketts very likely will be inducted into the ACU Hall of Fame as their combined collegiate résumé boasts 31 victories, 11 Southland Conference Championships and school records in the outdoor 5K and 10K and indoor mile, 3K and 5K. They also were the first Wildcat student-athletes to appear at a NCAA D1 Championship (cross country) following ACU's 2013-14 re-entry into the Southland Conference.
"These two have been so faithful with the talent they have been given," tweeted ACU head track and field coach
Lance Bingham Friday night. "We've been blessed to have them at ACU for the past few years.
"I'm so proud of our entire team for giving their absolute best and honoring Him."
Elsewhere on the track, junior
Ryan Cleary was 44th overall in the 3,000m steeplechase (9:13.52) and junior
Jaden Dement was listed as a 'no-height' in the pole vault along with nine other vaulters in the field.
Dement qualified for regionals thanks to his sixth-place height of 16-8.75 (5.09m) at the Southland Conference Championship. He chose to wait until the second height of the NCAA West preliminary to begin competing but he did not post a clearance at 16-4.75 (5.00m).
ACU Results at NCAA West Preliminaries
400m Dash
26.) Williams, Avery – 47.08
30.) Brownlow, Blaze – 47.27
35.) Williams, Jared – 47.64
3000m Steeplechase
44.) Cleary, Ryan – 9:13.52
10000m Run
23.) Hackett, Michaela – 33:50.99 (PR, Varsity Record)
24.) Hackett, Alexandria – 33:51.73 (PR, 2nd fastest performer in school history)
4x400m Relay
15.) J. Williams (47.38), B. Brownlow (45.89), A. Williams (46.04), R. Linton (47.25) – 3:06.80 (SB)
Pole Vault
– )
Jaden Dement – NH
Shot Put
37.) Knight, Morgan – 17.14m (56' 3")
– ) Schmidt, Kai – Foul
Discus
13.) Schmidt, Kai – 55.24m (181' 3")
19.) Knight, Morgan – 53.25m (174' 8")
28.) Hunter, Joshua – 51.35m (168' 6")
29.) Simmons, Ryan – 51.28m (168' 3")
Discus
25.) Melgar, Kayla – 50.71m (166' 4")
35.) Smith, Lonnie – 48.47m (159' 0")
Hammer
39.) Melgar, Kayla – 54.63m (179' 3")
44.) Smith, Lonnie – 50.59m (166' 0")
