FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. -- Mission accomplished.

In their only true indoor meet prior to the NAIA championships, Azusa Pacific men’s and women’s track & field teams got what they wanted in the Mountain T Invitational at Northern Arizona University. A full contingent of Cougars posted 36 season-best marks from the sprints to the field events bringing the total number of NAIA championship qualifiers to 26, an even 13 for the women and 13 for the men.

Azusa Pacific coaches Mike Barnett and Kevin Reid deliberately avoided running their athletes in the distance races and longer relays, assuming the high altitude of Flagstaff, Ariz., would negate any potential qualifying efforts. Everywhere else, though, the Cougars excelled.

The Cougar men’s sprint corps revved its engine rather loud in the Walkup Stadium at Northern Arizona. Junior Mike Mitchell won the invitational 200 with the fifth fastest time in Azusa Pacific history, a 21.06 that bettered his nearest competitor by nearly a full second. Sophomore Brett Bultje blazed career bests in the 60 and 200 meters, clocking a 7.09 and 22.20, respectively. In fact, he was 1 of 3 Cougars to punch NAIA indoor tickets in the 200. Along with Mitchell and Bultje, junior Rob Jarvis ran a qualifying time of 22.22.

In the 400 meters, sophomore Matt Parish and senior All-American Nate Farris both qualified for the NAIAs with a 49.35 and a 49.47, respectively. Freshman Tony Ramirez, who is already headed to the national meet, turned in another fine quarter-mile, making the round in 47.95, off a bit from last week’s 47.53 clocked at home but still a good enough to put him in fifth in the invitational race. All-American senior Gabe Cabrera, who was making his first appearance of the season, missed the qualifying standard by just .04 of a second with his 49.69

“It was a pretty good meet across the board,” said Reid. “Everyone stepped up, and I thought did very well. We accomplished what we wanted.”

The Cougars won the invitational 4x400 relay with a season-best 3:14.41. The sprinting combination of Parrish, Jarvis, Farris and Chris Page clocked the top time in the NAIA this season.

Meanwhile, sophomore Danny Reid won the open 800 with 1:57.85, followed by teammate Brandon Shaw, who was second with a 1:58.52.

Freshman Cameron Tucker, a local product out of Rowland High School who just transferred to Azusa Pacific 4 weeks ago after a semester Willamette University, continues to be the surprise of the team, recording an 8.57 to finish sixth in the 60-meter hurdles.

“There was some adjustment for the guys having to run indoors,” said Reid. “The environment and lack of humidity may have affected the pacing of some in the 400. And this was the first indoor meet for a lot of the guys, so they were ‘big-eyed’ when we first got here. But all-in-all, the meet went very well for us.”

On the women’s side, NAIA champion Vivian Chukwuemeka wowed the crowd with a personal-best and winning throw of 63-6 in the 20-pound weight, shattering by 3 feet her previous school record set last year.

“The was a nice little surprise,” said Barnett, “because that is better than what Vivian has been practicing in recent weeks.”

Teammate Barbara Sugar, a former NJCAA champ at nearby Arizona Central College, locked in her path to the NAIAs with a 51-5 in the weight throw while sophomore Kristi Young moved ever closer to the qualifying standard with a lifetime best of 46-2¾.

On the track, All-American Niema Golpin was second in the invitational 400 with a personal-best 55.41, the fourth fastest quarter mile in Cougar track & field history.

Freshman Sarah Jackson recorded a personal-best and NAIA qualifying 9.21 in the finals of the 60-meter hurdles while pentathlete Mireya Beltran ran a personal-record 9.32 in the prelims. Fellow pentathlete Morgan Alitzer, another in the sterling class of Cougar freshmen, recorded a 9.75 to go along with her personal-best mark of 16-3¾ in the long jump.

Beltran came right back to go 5-5¾ to finish third in the invitational high jump.

“It may not be showing in terms of height, but Mireya is really jumping well right now,” added Barnett. “She had a difficult double today in that she went right into the high jump competition immediately after the high hurdle finals.”

All told, Cougar athletes recorded 10 career-bests during the Mountain T Invitational.

Azusa Pacific returns home to host an all-comers meet on Saturday (Feb. 14), beginning at 9 a.m. in Cougar Stadium.