OLATHE, Kan. – After two days of competition, Azusa Pacific is in second place in both the men’s and women’s divisions of the NAIA Outdoor Track & Field Championships. For the Cougar men, that position is just fine, but that’s not where the women expected or wanted to be heading into Saturday’s final round of competition.

Nonetheless, both squads remain in good locations to capture their respective national crown and make Azusa Pacific only the second school ever to sweep the men’s and women’s NAIA track & field championships in both the indoor and outdoor meets in the same season.

While the Cougar women suffered a pair of misfires in the heptathlon and 400 meters, they still posted rather impressive victories in the discus and 4x800 to collect an additional 20 points and bring their 2-day meet total to 44 points, just 3 behind current leader Doane College (Neb.), which has 47.

As expected, sophomore Vivian Chukweumeka won the discus for her sixth NAIA title over the past 2 seasons, and she did in record-setting form with a personal-best throw of 186-9 to crush the former NAIA standard by more than 12 feet.

Earlier in Friday’s competition, the Cougars won the women’s 4x800-meter relay with a school-record 9:04.04, breaking the former school best set earlier this season by 3 seconds. Sophomore Brianna Castensen, who was making her first appearance in this meet, ran a sterling anchor leg, pulling away from the pack over the final 150 meters of the race.

In the heptathlon, senior Mireya Beltran was well within striking distance of the event title, heading into in the javelin throw. However, she failed to get a mark after 2 throws were called “flat” by officials and another throw sailed out of the sector. With the foul-out, Beltran fell from second to 14th and did not run the heptathlon’s final event, the 800 meters.

Freshman Niema Golphin, making her first appearance ever at the NAIA Outdoor Track & Field Championship Meet, narrowly missed advancing to Saturday’s 400 meters final, clocking a 57.05 in Friday’s semis to finish ninth. Only the top 8 advance.

Junior Laurie Ramirez moved into the finals of the women’s 800 meters with a 2:16.70 in Friday’s semifinal. Likewise junior Janessa Lepp is finals-bound in the 400 hurdles after running a 1:03.42.

Both of Azusa Pacific relays, the 4x100 and 4x400, were the last team to qualify for Saturday’s finals. Lepp teamed with Tamara Jones, Nicole Parsons-Shaw and Golphin to move the Cougars’ 4x100 relay in finals, after running a 48.54. Lepp, Jones and Golphin along with Jodi Visser then had to rally to a 3:53.10 to nab the last spot for the 8-team finals.

Though it took them awhile, the Cougar men finally got on the scoreboard nearly halfway through this three-day meet by first winning the 110-meter hurdles and then taking 4x800-meter relay title. With the 2 victories, Azusa Pacific has 20 points in the men’s division, tied for second with Dickinson State (N.D.) and 3 points behind front-runner Lindenwood University (Mo.), which scored all 23 of its points during Friday’s competition.

In winning the 110-meter hurdles, senior Dominique DeGrammont matched the oldest record in the NAIA book, clocking a 13.74 to equal Olympic gold medallist Rod Milburn’s hand standard of 13.5 established at the 1972 NAIA championships meet. In this race in which 4 runners crashed to the ground, DeGrammont survived the hustle and tussle to beat his chief rival, Ricardo Melbourne of Central State (Ohio) who finished with a 14.00.

“Ricardo and I bumped twice but after the fifth hurdle I couldn’t see him anymore,” said DeGrammont, who has qualified for this summer’s U.S. Championship Meet. “I was trying not to mess up in the last part, because you get that nervous feeling when no one is around you.”

Like their female counterparts, the Cougar men grabbed the lead in the 4x800 on the second leg and never relinquished it. Sophomore Tim Ramirez pulled away over the final 200 meters to lead the Cougars to a school-record 7:33.03. The Cougars’ chances for victory vastly increased when pre-meet favorite Spring Arbor (Mich.) suffered a fall less than 300 meters into the race.

“That took a little pressure off and allowed us to relax,” said Ramirez, who will go for the individual 800 title on Saturday. “It didn’t change our strategy in running the race, because we felt we could win it, but certainly it helped us.”

The Cougars’ winning effort was the second-fastest winning time in NAIA meet history.

“We knew that if we gave Tim a lead, we would be fine,” said Brian Wardell who ran the Cougars’ second leg. “Coming to Azusa Pacific this year from Cal Baptist has been a million times better than I expected. It’s obvious that this was God’s plan for me to be here.”

The Cougars’ other 2 relays – 4x100 and 4x400 – also ran on Friday and both qualified for the finals. Nate Farris bounced back from Thursday’s disappointing performance in the open 400 to blaze outstanding anchor legs in both relays. In the short relay he took the baton from Rob Jarvis in second place and zipped by and then away from the field to give the Cougars a 41.41. In the mile relay, he took the lead in the final 20 meters as the Cougars won their heat with a 3:14.56.

The Azusa Pacific men will compete in 4 finals on Saturday, the 800, 1500, 4x100 and 4x400 and must do quite well in all 4 events if it is to capture its third straight national championship.

The Cougar women, meanwhile, will be appearing in Saturday’s finals in the 800, 1500, 400-meter hurdles, 4x100, 4x400, high jump and shot put.

Click here to view complete 2-day results of the 2003 NAIA Outdoor Track & Field Championships.