OLATHE, Kan. – Twenty years ago this weekend, Mike Barnett, then a senior All-American at Azusa Pacific, completed the climb up the hill that led Azusa Pacific to its first-ever NAIA Men’s Outdoor Track & Field national championship. He scored 18 points, including 10 that came from his record fourth straight NAIA javelin crown as Azusa Pacific cruised to the 1983 NAIA championship. Since then, Azusa Pacific has won 12 more outdoor team titles, but there’s nothing like the first one, nothing like being the original.

Tonight Barnett is an original once again. Now the head coach of the Azusa Pacific women’s track & field team, Barnett has guided the Cougars to their first-ever NAIA Outdoor Women’s Track & Field national championship.

Azusa Pacific used a balanced effort over three days of competition, scoring in the throws, distances and jumps to win the NAIA Women’s Outdoor Track & Field Championship, holding off a late charge by Lindenwood University (Mo.) to beat the Lions, 86-78.

“Had someone told me 20 years ago that I’d coach the women to their first championship in 2003, I would have laughed at them,” said Barnett with a smile. “When I came here 4 years ago I set out a goal to win the national title by my fourth season. We nearly did it last year, but it’s nice to have another original ring on the 20-year anniversary of the men’s first.”

The national championship is Azusa Pacific’s first-ever on the women’s outdoor circuit, and combined with their effort back in March, it gives the Cougars a sweep of the NAIA indoor and outdoor 2003 championships.

“We had to compete hard to win this one,” said Barnett, who was named the NAIA Outdoor Coach of the Year. “It’s not that we didn’t compete for the indoor title, but there were a couple of teams trying to take this one from us.”

One of those teams was certainly Lindenwood, which had the potential to overcome Azusa Pacific in the final 5 events and nearly did so by scoring 31 points in a 30-minute stretch late in the meet to close in on the Cougars. However, the Lions could get no closer than four points, and Azusa Pacific held on for the victory.

The Cougars opened the day in second place, three points behind Lindenwood. Sophomore Vivian Chukwuemeka, however, won the shot put early in the day’s competition to give the Cougars the lead for good. She successfully defended her shot title with a put of 58-7½, a foot short of her NAIA record set a year ago. She launched her winning mark on her second attempt and was well over 56 feet on all 6 of her puts. Senior Vanessa Wilhelm finish third with a personal-best 46-8, the second-best put in Azusa Pacific history.

“I wanted to break my shot record, but I was tired,” said Chukwuemeka, who now has 7 NAIA individual titles, second most in Azusa Pacific history. “This year I had to work harder in the discus and hammer than I did last year, and I think the stress wore on me. But I’m happy because I did well overall in the meet.”

Combined with her victory in the discus (NAIA record 186-9 on Friday) and a third-place showing in the hammer, Chukwuemeka tallied 26 points on her own and thus was named the meet’s Female Outstanding Performer.

“She earned it,” said Barnett of Chukwuemeka’s award. “She did very well in two events that are really still new to her, the hammer and discus.”

With the 16 points Chukwuemeka and Wilhelm tallied in the shot, Azusa Pacific tacked on another 16 points later in the day in combined efforts in the high jump, 800 meters, 4x400 and 400-meter hurdles. Junior Janessa Lepp’s personal-best 1:01.95 in the 400 hurdles (third fastest time in school history) was good enough for a third-place finish and an additional 6 points that put Azusa Pacific atthe 80-point total and out of Lindenwood’s reach.

On the men’s side, Azusa Pacific, the 2-time defending national champion, finished third with 45 points. Lindenwood won the NAIA championship, its first ever, with 65 points. Dickinson State (N.D.) was second with 61.

The Cougar men won 4 events over the course of the 3-day meet and sophomore Tim Ramirez, who has enjoyed a breakout season like few Cougars ever have, had a hand in 3 of the victories. He anchored Azusa Pacific to the 4x800 victory on Friday and then today won the open 800 meters (1:51.48) before helping Azusa Pacific close out the meet with a rather impressive and quite unpredictable victory in the 4x400 meter (3:12.49). His victory in the 800 made him the first Cougar ever to win an NAIA title in that event. On the third leg of 4x400, he ran down 2 opponents over the final 80 meters and gave anchor Nate Farris a 3-meter lead as he started the final lap.

Farris, who was coming one of an extremely disappointing Thursday in which he failed to get out of the prelims of the open 400 after posting a sluggish 51-second lap, turned in a sizzling 47-second split in the relay to pull away and give the Cougars an easy victory.

“Track & field can teach you life lessons perhaps like no other sport,” said Farris after the race. “I have experienced some extremes this weekend, but this victory feels pretty good.”

Azusa Pacific has now won 21 NAIA championships between women’s volleyball, women’s soccer, football, men’s track & field and women’s track & field.

Click here to view complete 3-day results of the 2003 NAIA Outdoor Track & Field Championships.