ORU men and women sweep indoor track championships

[praetorfenix86]

ORU Makes History With Second-Consecutive Indoor Track and Field Sweep

02/27/2006

ELMHURST, ILL. - For the first time in league history, one squad swept the Mid-Continent Conference Indoor Track & Field Championships in back-to-back seasons as the Oral Roberts men and women took home the crowns. The Golden Eagles' men won the Championships for the fifth time in six years, while the women claimed their second-consecutive title.

Oral Roberts' men's squad was 17 points out of first place after the first day of competition but rallied during day two to claim the crown with 224.0 points. Southern Utah was the runner-up with 163.5 points, while Western Illinois completed the Top 3 with a 76-point showing. UMKC checked in at fourth with 69.5 tallies, while Chicago State (44.0) and Valparaiso (33.0) rounded out the men's competition.

ORU's women tallied 195.0 points en route to the title, while Western Illinois was right behind the Golden Eagles with 124.0 points. Southern Utah checked in behind the Westerwinds with 114.0 points for third place, while Valparaiso amassed 81.0 points for fourth. UMKC (79.5) and Chicago State (11.5) completed the women's side of the standings.

ORU also took home most of the individual hardware as James Wanjiku and Aisha Mitchell were honored as the Men's and Women's Athlete of the Year, respectively. The Golden Eagles also had a Newcomer of the Year honoree as Demarcus Bass and Southern Utah's Dallas Eborn shared the award. Heidi Houle garnered the Newcomer of the Year award, and for the third consecutive year, one coach took home both the men's and women's Coach of the Year award as Oral Roberts' Joe Dial received the honor.

Nikol Zachary started the Golden Eagles run with a win in the pole vault after clearing the bar at 3.65 meters. Aubrey Martin then gave WIU a boost in the standings with her second individual title of the Championships with an NCAA provisional mark of 16.41 meters in the shot put. Teammate Jennifer Gilson also provisionally qualified for the NCAA Indoor Championships with her toss of 15.81 meters.

Demarcus Bass then got Oral Roberts back on track with a high jump winning mark of 2.08 meters, while teammate English Clark won the women's triple jump with a mark of 12.18 meters. ORU's Diana Chelimo kept things going with a win in the mile run (4:54.46), while Wanjiku followed suit with a win on the men's side (4:20.02). Southern Utah's Kelly Schoney broke the Golden Eagles' momentum with a win in the 60-meter hurdles in 8.75, then watched as Ransom Minyard made it a T-Birds sweep with a victory in 8.15 seconds.

Mitchell would get Oral Roberts back to the top of the podium with a win in the 60-meter dash (7.66), while Maurice Moss did the same for the men in 6.86 seconds. Aisha Mitchell would then claim the crown in the 400-meter dash (55.16), but UMKC's Sky Hagy would give the 'Roos some momentum with a win in the shot put at 15.45 meters. Andretti Bain gave ORU the momentum right back with a win in the 400-meter dash in an NCAA proivisional qualifying time of 47.56 seconds, completing the ORU sweep in the event.

Femi Olagoke gave UMKC its second winner in a field event with the top mark of 14.38 meters in the men's triple jump. Oral Roberts then swept the top three spots in the men's 800-meter run with Shaun Smith crossing the finish first in 1:53.48. Diana Chelimo would follow the men's lead with a win in 2:12.20, further strengthing the ORU advantage. The Golden Eagles then claimed the women's and men's 200-meter dash as Mitchell (24.90) and Moss (21.85)won the event. UMKC's Courtney Huber then took the final field event of the day with a mark of 1.73 meters in the high jump.

Faithy Kamangila gave ORU another individual title as she won the women's 5,000-meter run in 17:17.22, a Championship record. Southern Utah's Jess Baumgartner won the men's race with a time of 14:37.05. Southern Utah and Oral Roberts would claim the Championships' final two events as the T-Birds women won the 4x400-meter relay in 3:52.20, while the Golden Eagles men won the gold in the men's race with a time of 3:17.75.

ORU Men's 2005-2006 All-Conference Selections

Andretti Bain

Demarcus Bass

B.J. Blocker

Adrian Foster

Ernest Martinez

Maurice Moss

Prince Mumba

Richard Petzold

David Rivera

Jonathan Rivers

Shaun Smith

Ernest Stranz

James Wanjiku

David Zahn

ORU Women's 2005-2006 All-Conference Selections

Mercedes Bellamy

Diana Chelimo

English Clark

Christine Ensign

Autumn Hubbard

Faithy Kamangila

Aisha Mitchell

Dollie Mitchell

Latonya Swanson

Rachel Talbert

Nikol Zachary