JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. –- Azusa Pacific captured the NAIA Men’s Indoor Track & Field Championship Saturday afternoon, using the legs of Aron Rono and the record-setting performance of Matt Sparks to run away from the 38-team field and claim its fifth indoor crown in program history.

The Cougars, who assumed the lead during Friday’s day 2 competition, never let it slip away Saturday and went on tally 83 points to easily out-distance second-place Oklahoma Baptist which finished with 62 points. Dickinson State (N.D.) was third with 59.

Rono, a sophomore out of Kenya, was named the meet’s outstanding male performer after winning the mile and the 5000 meters within less than 3 hours of each event. The Cougars opened the day with a 3-point lead but Rono immediately gave Azusa Pacific some much-needed cushion by wining the first race, successfully defending his title in the mile with a fine 4:06.90 to beat his nearest competitor by 3 seconds. With little time to rest, he came back and captured the 5000 with a 14:22.44, narrowly edging Noah Too of MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) who clocked a 14:23.67. Rono becomes the first athlete in NAIA history to win both the mile and the 5000 in the same meet, and because of his unique double, he becomes the third Cougar to be named the meet’s outstanding performer, joining Olympians Bryan Clay (2001 and 2002) and Ade Olukoju (1990) as previous Cougar winners of the honor.

In between Rono’s victories, senior Matt Sparks set the NAIA record in the 60-meter hurdles, blazing an 8.08 to blow away second-place Lamar Baskin of Oklahoma Baptist, who established the previous standard in winning last year’s 60 hurdles at 8.09. This time Baskin finished well behind Sparks with an 8.29.

By the time Rono and Sparks gathered their individual victories, Azusa Pacific had wrapped up the title, its fourth in the past 6 years.

But the Cougars weren’t done, and in fact Rono had more work to do. Forty minutes after winning the 5000, he was back on the track, anchoring Azusa Pacific to another victory in the distance medley relay, which the Cougars took with a 10:06.11.

It was near-perfect meet for the Azusa Pacific, which continually advanced its athletes through seemingly every preliminary race and then beat chief rival Oklahoma Baptist in all the key head-to-head events. Not to be lost amongst the efforts of Rono and Sparks was senior Tony Ramirez, who has won the 400 meters in past NAIA indoor meets but today added some distance to his repertoire and still won the 600 meters with a 1:19.09, narrowly defeating Oklahoma Baptist’s T.J. Lightsey, who crossed the finish line at 1:19.26. The Sparks and Ramirez victories over OBU athletes emboldened the Cougars.

Ramirez came back later in the meet and anchored Azusa Pacific to a sixth-place finish in the 4x400, teaming with fellow 600-meter All-American Jason Zichterman and Sparks to give the Cougars a bonus point.

The 83 points are the second-highest winning total out of Azusa Pacific’s 5 NAIA Indoor Championship titles. The Cougars won the 1996 crown with 91 points and then followed with 72, 61 and 75 points in taking 3 straight national championships in 2002, 2003 and 2004.

Azusa Pacific men’s head coach Kevin Reid was named the NAIA Coach of the Year.

The Azusa Pacific women’s team finished ninth at the NAIA Indoor Championship and were the best-showing California team in the women’s competition. Junior Zora Golcevska, who was the national runner-up in the pentathlon on Thursday, came back today to finish fourth in the 60-meter hurdles with an 8.86. The Cougars closed out their performance with a third-place finish in the distance medley relay with a season-best 12:02.23.