FRESNO, Calif. –- True dominance transcends time. The names and characters may change, but a program, if it really is supreme, just keeps marching along.

Such is the case for the Azusa Pacific men’s 4x800-meter relay.

For an unprecedented fifth straight year, Azusa Pacific won the men’s 4x800 NAIA title, this time blazing a stadium record 7:30.70 during the 57th Annual NAIA Outdoor Track & Field Championships on the campus of Fresno Pacific University. The Cougars took the lead during Jason Zichterman’s second leg and then ran away from the rest of the field, posting a near 2-second victory over second-place Doane College (Neb.).

The victory, while impressive in nature, also drew a huge sigh of relief – from the participants themselves – senior Peter Sherman, juniors Zichterman and Caleb Lynch and sophomore Aron Rono.

“I wish I could explain just how nervous I was before the race,” said Lynch, the only repeat performer on this year’s quartet. “This was something that we had to do. Azusa Pacific had to win this race.”

Adding to the pressure, perhaps unexpectedly, was the presence of Danny Reid, Kevin Lindsey and Tim Ramirez, all whom teamed with Lynch last year to win the NAIA 4x800 title and set the school record. The trio of alumni made the 4-hour trip north from Azusa, Calif., this morning to support this new contingent of 4x800 Cougars.

“To have those 3 veterans there at finish line cheering us on felt so right,” added Lynch.

By the time Rono took the baton from Lynch for the anchor leg, the Cougars were in cruise control as Rono opened up a 30-meter lead at one point.

“I have never been in this kind of atmosphere in my track career,” said Zichterman, who transferred to Azusa Pacific from the University of Colorado back in January. “I just let the pressure build because it was fun. I’ve never had so much confidence in teammates like I did today in these guys.”

“My adrenalin was really high before I took the baton,” said Rono. “My legs were shaking. I think I went out a little too fast on the first lap, but I relaxed and felt good.”

The time is the third fastest 4x800 in Azusa Pacific history. Only 2 other schools in NAIA history have won 5 straight relay titles (Lindenwood in the men’s 4x100, and Prairie View A&M in the women’s sprint medley).

With the 4x800 win , Azusa Pacific re-assumed the lead in the race for the men’s team title and heads into Saturday’s final round of competition with 38 points, holding a narrow 6-point advantage over second-place Doane College (Neb.).

Earlier in the day junior David Pichler finished third in the decathlon with 6,527 points. The Yelm, Wash., native used a personal-best mark of 13’ 3 ½” in the pole vault to jump into the overall lead after 8 events. However, defending champion Sergiy Oliynyk of Wayland Baptist University (Texas) came back with a terrific throw in the javelin (170’ 5”) and then ran a fine 1500 (4:46.80) to successfully defend his crown with 6,733 points.

Senior James Ferguson finished fourth in the men’s shot put with a lifetime-best effort of 56’ 6”, and senior Tal Mor earned All-American honors in the 100 meters with a 10.66 that placed him sixth in the finals.

“It was relatively a good second day for us,” said Cougar men’s coach Kevin Reid, “but tomorrow is going to be real battle. Doane had a great day today, and now they’re in the mix for the championship along with us, Oklahoma Baptist and Dickinson State.

Azusa Pacific also sits atop the leader board in the women’s competition. In fact, the Cougar women put together an astonishing day in which they tallied a surprising 34 points to give them a 2-day total of 45.

No one better represented the Cougars’ effort on the day than junior Megan Ilertsen, who came up with a surprising throw on her final attempt in the discus to finish as the national runner-up. Ilertsen produced a lazer-like fling that traveled 156’ 1”, a 9-foot personal-record which comes on the heels of yesterday’s PR in the hammer throw.

“A 9-foot PR! How cool is that?” asked an excited Azusa Pacific women’s coach Mike Barnett. “She launched one that went about 8 feet off the ground on her last throw.”

It’s the fifth best throw in school history.

“I just wanted to be an All-American again,” said Ilertsen. “Yesterday was so great to become an All-American for the first time ever, and this is just icing on the cake.”

Fellow junior Ruth Wilhelm garnered All-American recognition with a throw of 149’ 9” to finish sixth.

“I was hoping to get maybe a point or 2 in the discus,” said Barnett, “but instead we got 11. That’s a huge boost for us.”

Indeed, it has put Azusa Pacific squarely in the hunt for the national championship. The Cougars entered the NAIA meet hoping to finish in the top 4, but now the Cougars may be the team to beat entering Saturday’s competition. They own a 22-point lead over second-place Cedarville University (Ohio).

“We’re looking at maybe 18 more points to get tomorrow, and who knows, perhaps 63 points can win the whole thing,” said Barnett.

The Cougars snagged 13 points today in the heptathlon. Junior Zora Golcevska finished second with 4,938, literally edging Point Loma Nazarene’s Kate Alderson, who was third with 4,933 points. Golcevska beat Alderson by 1.21 second in the final event – the 800 meters – to score 16 more points than Alderson and pass her in the final standings.

Senior Morgan Altizer was fourth in the heptathlon with a season-best 4,660 points.

Just minutes before she ran the heptathlon 800, Golcevska took the track for the finals of the open 100-meter hurdles and finished fifth with a 14.53.

The Cougars closed out the day with a very fine third-place showing in the 4x800-meter relay, running a 9:06.81.

“That was about as good as we could have done,” said Cougar distance coach Preston Grey. “I’m really happy with that performance. They ran very well.”

Azusa Pacific returns to the track at 6 a.m. Saturday morning for the marathon in which senior Sean Henning will represent the Cougars.

A full day’s worth of competition begins at 1 p.m., and 5 hours later Azusa Pacific will know whether or not it has swept NAIA outdoor track & field titles.

For complete up-to-the-minute results of the NAIA Outdoor Track & Field Championships go to CFPI Timing & Data. For more detailed information on the NAIA Outdoor Track & Field Championships, go to the NAIA website. For audio and video highlights of the meet, visit Fresno.edu/naia2007.