A Sprint to the Finish
« Back to Stories
 |  |  |  |
 |  |  |
FRESNO, Calif. -- What else would you expect from a track & field meet than a sprint to the finish?
Two-time defending champion Dickinson State (N.D.) and Azusa Pacific, the winningest program in NAIA history, are primed for a sprint to the finish of the 55th Annual NAIA Men’s Outdoor Track & Field Championships at Fresno Pacific University.
Dickinson State, seeking to join Azusa Pacific and 4 others as the only schools ever to capture 3 straight NAIA outdoor championships, is in the lead after 2 days of competition at the 3-day meet. However, the Blue Hawks’ advantage is slim at best. DSU enjoyed a fantastic second day of competition to assume the overall team lead with 57 points. Likewise, Azusa Pacific enjoyed a better-than-expected Friday and sits in second place with 49 points, just 8 off the DSU pace.
The table is now set for a sprint to the finish to see if Dickinson State can catapult into the elite of NAIA history, or if Azusa Pacific, which has won a record 13 NAIA outdoor championships, can reclaim the crown with its first title in 4 years. The 2 programs will go head-to-head in 4 of Saturday’s 12 event finals, including the final event of the meet – the men’s 4x400-meter relay.
“The national championship may come down to last event,” said Cougar coach Kevin Reid. “What could be more exciting than that?”
Hurdler Matt Sparks led Azusa Pacific through a series of fine performances during Friday’s competition. The junior out of Gunnison, Colo., captured the Cougars’ first individual men’s title of this championship meet when won the 110-meter high hurdles in surprisingly easy fashion. Sparks ran away from the field with a personal-best time of 14.00, beating his nearest competitors by .2 of a second.
“How about that!” said Reid of Sparks, who becomes only the third Cougar ever to win an NAIA title in the high hurdles. “That was a PR by more three-tenths of a second. It’s pretty impressive.”
Indeed it was, considering that Sparks was far from “fresh” heading into the race. Just 20 minutes earlier he ran the third leg on Azusa Pacific 4x100-meter semifinal relay semifinal. Yet the extra work seemed to enhance Sparks, who clocked the sixth fastest hurdle time in Cougar history.
Azusa Pacific picked up another 10 points when the quartet of Kevin Lindsey, Danny Reid, Caleb Lynch and Tim Ramirez rallied to win the 4x800-meter relay with a stadium-record time of 7:32.20. Lynch motored the Cougars from third place into the lead during his third-leg run, setting up Ramirez, a former NAIA champ in the open 800 who pulled away from the field for the Cougars’ 2-second victory over Concordia (Neb.).
“I just wanted to play it as smart as I could,” said Lynch, “and give Tim as big a lead as possible. I tried to pull away with about 200 meters left so that there was a gap between us and the rest of the field because I knew no one could catch Tim.”
With the victory, Azusa Pacific becomes the first school ever to win 4 straight 4x800 relays, and Lindsey was a member of all 4 championship relays.
Earlier in the day, Azusa Pacific registered an additional 18 points in the decathlon, an effort that exceeded pre-meet expectations. All-American Brian Bernard closed out his college career with a personal-best score of 6,854 points to finish second behind Wayland Baptist’s Sergiy Oliynyk. Junior Akoni Clubb capped the best decathlon of his career with a near 400-point PR, tallying 6,847 points to finish third. Sophomore David Pichler joined his teammates on the All-America stand with a fifth-place effort that came from scoring 6,680 points.
The Cougars picked up a surprising 5 points when junior James Ferguson finished fourth in the shot put with a personal-record of 53’ 5 ¾”.
As good as Azusa Pacific’s Day 2 results were, Dickinson State’s were that much better. The Blue Hawks found bonus points in the long jump, shot put and 100 meters, which to their surprise put them ahead of Azusa Pacific by the time the sun had set on Friday’s events.
Not to be out-done by their male counterparts, the Cougar women likewise put together a fine day of competition that by the close of competition found Azusa Pacific in second place with 53 points. Pre-meet favorite Missouri Baptist leads with 63.
As expected Vivian Chukwuemeka won the discus with a stadium record launch of 175’ 1”. The victory, her second of this meet, gives her 15 NAIA individual titles for her career, tying former Cougar great Ade Olukoju for the most individual crowns in NAIA history. Chukwuemeka will gun for sole possession of the title record during Saturday’s competition in her specialty, the shot put. Teammate Barbara Sugar finished second, leapfrogging 2 competitors on her final throw of 160’ 10”.
Sophomore Capree Bell garnered her first-ever All-America recognition by finishing fourth in the heptathlon with a career-best score of 4,505, the tenth best point total in Azusa Pacific history.
Senior Sara Stafford collected 2 more points for the Cougar cause by clearing 11’ 3¾” to finish seventh in the pole vault. The Cougar 4x800 closed out the women’s scoring for the day by picking up a point with an eighth-place finish and a time of 9:26.89.
“I’m pleased with where and how we got our points today,” said Cougar women’s coach Mike Barnett. “I think we can score 80 points. We are firing on all cylinders, and I think we could battle for second place.”
The NAIA championship meet continues at 1 p.m. (PDT) Saturday (May 27), concluding in the early evening with the national championship awards presentation. Click here for live results and scoring.