AZUSA, Calif. -- Azusa Pacific enjoyed being home in front of large contingent of spectators as the Cougars cruised to several quality marks during the 19th Annual Meet of Champions.

Over 600 athletes competed in the meet, and among those that shined the brightest were Cougar sprinters Mike Mitchell and Niema Golphin, who both solidified their stance among the NAIA's premier sprinters this year, and hurdler Lorraine Swaby, who locked herself in as the greatest intermediate hurdler in Azusa Pacific history.

Mitchell clocked a personal-best 10.35 for the fifth fastest 100 in Azusa Pacific history and then came back to win the long jump with a leap of 23’ 10 ¾”. Not done with his day, Mitchell then won the 200 with a sizzling 20.67, the third best 200 in Cougar track & field history, passing such Azusa Pacific luminaries as Osmond Ezinwa and Paul Dennis on the 200 chart.

“That’s a pretty impressive triple on his part,” said Cougar men’s coach Kevin Reid. “It’s not just a matter of winning events against such good competition, but posting such good marks as well.”

Meanwhile Golphin blazed a personal-best 54.52 in the 400 and now has qualified for the NAIA outdoor championships in the 200, 400 and 800. She then anchored the Cougars’ 4x100 (48.03) and 4x400 (3:49.9) to season-best efforts. In fact, the 48.03 is the fourth best quartermile relay in Azusa Pacific history.

Her Cougar male counterpart, freshman Tony Ramirez, was just as impressive in his quartermile race, sprinting to a personal-record 47.03 as he closes in on becoming only the fourth Cougar ever to record a sub-47 400.

Swaby broke a 9-year old school record in the 400-meter hurdles, running a 60.61 to best Kim Petway’s former school standard of 60.68 set in 1995. In the process, Swaby moves to the forefront of leading contenders for the NAIA crown.

In the distances, iron-woman Christine Krause added 2 more NAIA events to her resume, qualifying in the 800 (2:16.67) and the 1500 (personal-record 4:37.76 and the fourth fastest in Cougar history) to go along with the steeplechase and 5000, events she qualified for earlier in the year.

"She's so strong and tough, I think I'll have her do all 4 event at the NAIAs," said Cougar women's coach Mike Barnett.

Junior Brandon Shaw, who has flown under the radar for most of the season, could no longer be ignored when he ran a stunning 1:50.41 in his first 800 of the season. It was the second-best half-mile in Azusa Pacific history and just 1.3 second off the school record.

In the field events, senior Mark Grubbs qualified for the NAIA championships in the javelin with a personal-record throw of 190’ 3.”

For complete meet results, click on the the "Box Scores" button at the top of this page.