AZUSA, Calif. -- A couple of years ago Azusa Pacific women’s track & field put on a blitz that sent shivers through the rest of its NAIA competitors. The Cougars pulled off what had previously been the impossible, becoming the first program to sweep the NAIA indoor and outdoor team championships in back-to-back seasons. And the Cougars didn’t just eek out championship meet victories, they stampeded through the 2003 and 2004 fields, winning 4 consecutive national championships by an average margin of 35 points per championship meet.

It wasn’t even close.

But like true competitors that make up the best of the NAIA, the foe didn’t fold. Fearful that the Cougar women were on the doorstep of establishing a dynasty, the opponents rose to the challenge presented by Azusa Pacific, and last year Oklahoma (indoor) and Simon Fraser (outdoor) came back to snag the crowns.

Game on, now.

One of the most competitive fields in the history of NAIA track & field is setting itself up for the indoor and outdoor championships, and Azusa Pacific expects to be right there in the mix, and even be the frontrunner for the outdoor title.

Nineteen athletes are back from last year’s team. A pair of redshirt All-Americans rejoin the squad, and in all, 13 All-Americans dot the Cougars’ 28-athlete roster.

“Going in we should be a top team,” Azusa Pacific women’s coach Mike Barnett, a 4-time NAIA Coach of the Year who is now in his seventh year leading the program. “I’m not sure we’re built to make a serious run at the indoor championship, but I think we can win outdoors.”

Yet Barnett is quick to point out that while 100 points could win a crown in the past, it may not be good enough this year. The competition has become that intense.

Senior thrower Vivian Chukwuemeka (Ekpoma, Nigeria), a 13-time NAIA champion (most in association history) is the catalyst of the Cougar fortunes, which justifies why Barnett believes the Cougars may end up on the outside looking in for the indoor crown. Chukwuemeka has completed her indoor eligibility and thus is gearing toward the outdoor campaign.

“Vivian should win 2 more throwing titles, and maybe a third,” said Barnett.

Chukwuemeka, who owns the NAIA record in the shot (indoor and outdoor), discus and weight throw, is far from a single act. She leads a Cougar contingent that comprises the best set of throwers ever assembled on one NAIA team. Fellow seniors Barbara Sugar (Szombathely, Hungary) and Kristi Young (La Quinta, Calif./Desert Christian HS) are All-Americans. In fact, Sugar is the reigning NAIA champ in the hammer and discus. Sophomore Ruth Wilhelm (Port Angeles, Wash./Crescent HS) is on the cusp of a breakthrough season in which she could score in all 4 throwing events.

“This may sound impossible, but we could score around 60 points at outdoors in just the throws,” said Barnett, “and 80 points won the meet last year. The ladies are aware of their potential, and they’ve established some pretty lofty goals that include sweeping the top 3 or 4 places in some of the throws.”

If the Cougars hit their target in the throws it will relieve some pressure for success in other areas. Nonetheless, they should be well represented and collect many points in the multis and jumps and tally other points in the 400 hurdles and pole vault.

Four-time NAIA All-American Morgan Altizer (Thousand Oaks, Calif./Thousand Oaks HS) waves the Cougar banner in the multi-events. The versatile athlete owns the third best heptathlon (4,886) and pentathlon (3,408) scores in school history and will take dead aim at both school records (5,039 and 3,613) in this her junior campaign. Altizer also has the ability to score in the unpredictable pole vault, an event in which she leads a parade of Cougars who can register All-America-like vaults.

Senior Sarah Stafford (Loomis, Calif./Del Oro HS) has qualified for 6 NAIA championship meets and won All-America recognition in the pole vault as a 2004 sophomore. She is 1 of just 6 Cougars ever to clear 11’ 5” and will have a chance to improve on that standard during the outdoor season after redshirting the indoor campaign.

Sophomores Mandy Pohja (Sterling, Colo./Sterling HS) and Melissa Leo (Upland, Calif./Upland HS) and freshman Mckenna Pratt (Stockton, Calif./St. Mary’s) have the talent to qualify for the national championships in the pole vault.

“However, we have 5 ladies who could qualify for the NAIAs,” said Barnett, “and depending on how the competition goes, they could all score points.”

Sophomore Capree Bell (Boise, Ida./Centennial HS) is a terrific athlete who teams with Altizer to give the Cougars an excellent 1-2 punch in the pentathlon and heptathlon. Bell will contend for the individual titles in both events and should push Altizer, who likewise will challenge Bell.

“As a track athlete you always appreciate a training partner, and in Morgan and Capree, they have each other to push, challenge and encourage one another,” said Barnett. “They will perform better on the national level simply because they raise the bar for each other in practice and meets.”

Bell is not a one-dimensional performer either. Despite being 5-foot-5, she is an excellent high jumper with extraordinary lift. Plus as the reigning GSAC high hurdle champion, she has the skill to clear hurdles in a fast clip.

In the hurdles, Azusa Pacific hopes there is no peer for All-American and school-record holder Lorraine Swaby (Campbell, Calif./Monte Vista Christian HS) , who returns to the track after sitting out the 2005 season. Swaby clocked a PR and Cougar record 60.15 as a sophomore while finishing third in the 400 hurdles at the NAIA Outdoor Championships in Louisville, Ky.

After a sub-par 2005 season because of injuries, junior Sarah Jackson (Vancouver, Wash./Hudson’s Bay HS) appears to be back in he All-American form of her rookie 2004 campaign when she was fifth in the indoor 55 hurdles and advanced to the semis of the 110 and 400 hurdles at the NAIA outdoor championships. However, Jackson may run only the 400 sprint, which is fine since she is showing improved strength and speed and could score in that event at both the indoor and outdoor championships.

In the jumps, Azusa Pacific should be represented on the national level by returnees Renee Eckley (Cottonwood, Calif./West Valley HS) and Ryann Hansen (Milton, Wash./Fife HS) and newcomer Deja Rabb (Thousand Oaks, Calif./Cal State L.A.).

A former heptathlete, Eckley, now a junior, is the 2004 NAIA javelin champion but arm injuries have sidelined her multi-event and javelin careers. As a result, she is taking her extraordinary athletic ability and focusing on the jumps where she could be a national qualifier in the long jump. Hansen and Rabb are attempting to become the first pair of Cougars to qualify for the NAIA triple jump in the same season. Hansen has a career best of 37’ 9 ½” while Rabb has leaped well over 38 feet.

Azusa Pacific is rebuilding in the distance events, but that doesn’t mean there won’t be Cougars running on the national level. Cross country All-American Whitney Jacobsmeyer (Martinez, Calif./Berean Christian HS) is a strong distance runner and will press for All-American recognition in the steeplechase (outdoor) and 3000 meters (indoor). Sophomore Olivia Richert (Centennial, Colo./Arapahoe HS) is looking to translate a strong finish to the 2005 cross country season into an All-American 2006 track & field campaign. Richert earned All-American recognition on the Cougars’ indoor distance medley relay and is now hoping to do so on an individual status in the indoor 1000 or 3000 meters. Freshman Jamie Canterbury (Laguna Niguel, Calif./Dana Hills HS) is young but quite promising and could develop into one of the NAIA’s very best as her distance career unfolds.

Sophomores Jenny Landis (Arcadia, Calif./Arcadia HS) and Kjersti Housman (Altadena, Calif./La Salle HS) are multi-skilled athletes who collected All-American recognition on Cougar relays last year. They give Barnett depth and experience that could prove to be the difference on a national level.

Locally, Azusa Pacific is gunning to retake the Golden State Athletic Conference crown that Point Loma Nazarene seized last year after the Cougars had won 4 consecutive GSAC titles.

“It will be another race to the end between us and Point Loma for the GSAC championship,” said Barnett. “It always is.”

Truthfully, though, Barnett and his team have their eyes on a bigger prize, reclaiming at least one if not both NAIA championship titles. It won’t be as easy as in past years, but it is possible.

“We’ll learn a lot about ourselves at the indoor championships in early March,” said Barnett. “We’re more of an outdoor team, particularly because of our strength in the throws. But we’re ready to battle teams like Missouri Baptist, Simon Fraser and Oklahoma Baptist, all of which have recruited hard the past few years to compete with us. This is shaping up to be a great battle for the championships, maybe the best in NAIA history.”

Indeed, game on.