JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. -- On the strength of some impressive showings in the sprints, relays and throws, Azusa Pacific became the first school in history to sweep the men’s and women’s NAIA Indoor Track & Field Championships in back-to-back seasons.

The Cougars, who a year ago, became only the sixth program ever to take the men’s and women’s crowns at the same meet, went one step farther this year into territory no one has ever charted, taking the men’s and women’s titles again in 2004.

Behind Mike Mitchell's NAIA-record setting efforts in the 200 meters and long jump, the Cougar men tallied 75 points to surprisingly waltz to its third straight indoor crown and its fourth since 1996. The Cougars beat defending outdoor champ Lindenwood (Mo.) by nearly 30 points

“This championship has a different flavor to it because so much of it was won on the track,” said Cougar men’s coach Kevin Reid, who for the second straight year was named NAIA Men’s Indoor Track & Field Coach of the Year. “In the past we’ve had a lot of points in the field events, but this time we did it in the sprints, distances and relays.”

As expected, the Cougar women cruised to their third straight NAIA title and their second in a row on the indoor circuit. The Cougar women bested longtime rival Simon Fraser of Canada, 95-65.

Junior Niema Golphin won the 400 meters for her first-ever NAIA title by blazing a personal-best 54.95, the third-fastest quarter-mile in Azusa Pacific history. Fellow junior Vivian Chukwuemeka captured her school-record eighth and ninth NAIA titles by first winning the 20-pound weight throw on Thursday with an NAIA record-setting performance of 60-7¼ and then coming back today to successfully defend her shot put crown with a heave of 56-11¼.

“We’re setting a new tradition,” said Azusa Pacific women’s coach Mike Barnett, who was named NAIA Women’s Indoor Track & Field Coach of the Year for the second consecutive year. “I’m proud of this team because it worked hard. When you’re on top there is a sense of relaxing, but not with this group. They responded well to the pressure of being a defending national champ.”

Cross country All-Americans Brianna Carstensen, Marissa Reeber and Christine Krause tallied additional points in the 1000 and mile. Freshman Sarah Jackson claimed All-American recognition in her first-ever national championship event, finishing fifth in the 55-meter high hurdles with an 8.55

While the Cougar men’s margin of victory was rather stunning, the actual victory itself was a surprise, particularly in light of how the meet started. During Thursday’s opening competition, Azusa Pacific failed to score in the 35-pound weight, something that has happened only one other time in the event’s 24-year NAIA history. Then Mitchell, who was among the favorites to win the 55 meters, was disqualified from the event after running in the wrong lane during his prelim. And when only 1 of 4 possible Cougars advanced out of the 400 prelims, the Cougars title picture was darkened and bleak.

“In my mind, we had to have at least 2 people in the 400 finals,” Reid reflected. “With no points on the board and Mitchell out of the 55, I was thinking, ‘wow, what are we going to do?’ In hindsight, Mike getting disqualified probably helped us because it really fired up the team, and we go a lot of great performances.”

An intense Mitchell came back to easily win the 200 with a 20.86 after clocking an NAIA record 20.84 in his prelim, shattering the former NAIA standard by .26 of a second. He then tallied the Cougars’ only victory in the field by winning the long jump and again in NAIA record-setting fashion, registering a leap of 25-10¼, breaking the 32-year old record by nearly 3 inches.

And he wasn’t done. Mitchell came back to anchor Azusa Pacific’s 4x400 relay to not just a victory but to another NAIA record, clocking a 3:13.13 after coming back from 20 meters down on the last leg to catch the relay team from Huston-Tillotson.

And as for the Cougars’ lone rep who qualified for the 400, well freshman Tony Ramirez won the event with a 48.24 to become the only true freshman in the meet to win an event.

“Tony winning the 400 was a real bonus for us,” said Reid. “Coming into the meet, Oklahoma Baptist looked really strong, but we had control because we went head-to-head against them in a lot of events. We did better in those events and then won some big events as well.”

The Cougars tallied 28 points out of 3 relays, with the aforementioned victories in the 4x400 and 4x800 to go along with a second-place showing in the distance medley relay (10:07.69).

Likewise, the Cougar women made hay in the relays, scoring 24 points by finishing second in all 3 events – the 4x400 (3:49.03), 4x800 (9:09.96) and distance medley (11:57.84). The quartet of Reeber, Krause, Carstensen and Tamara Jones ran the legs on both the 4x800 and the DMR.

Golpin led the Cougar women’s point parade by having a hand in 24 points. She won the 400, finished third in the 200 (personal-best 24.42), and ran anchor on the Cougars second-place finishing 4x400. Chukwuemeka finished with 20 points by winning both the shot and the 20-pound weight. Mireya Beltran recorded 15 points by winning the pentathlon with a school-record 3,616 points and the coming back to take a third in the high jump (personal-best 5’ 7¾”)

“In order to win the pentathlon, Mireya had to win the 800 by 7 seconds,” said Barnett. “She went out and beat the second-place girl by 16 seconds. She was willing to die to win the pentathlon, and that led the charge for the rest of the team. There was a feeling that, ‘OK, Azusa Pacific is back.’”

Azusa Pacific has now won 20 NAIA track & field championships, 6 of the indoor variety and 14 more on the outdoor circuit. All told, the Cougar athletic program has tallied 23 NAIA national championships, third most among active members.