Naimadu wins steeplechase to lead men to national title
5/26/2007 4:00:00 AM | Men's Track and Field, Track & Field
CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Nicodemus Naimadu won his 10th straight steeplechase race, and Abilene Christian University won its sixth straight men's team title here Saturday at the 45th annual NCAA Division II track and field championships.
Naimadu convincingly turned back a challenge from Kim Hogarth of Western State, Colo., to remain undefeated in the 3,000-meter steeplechase in his collegiate career, and the Wildcats won by a comfortable margin in the battle for the team trophy.
ACU won three more individual titles Saturday to go with Friday's win in the decathlon to finish with 105.5 points to 73 for distant runner-up St. Augustine's, N.C. In the women's competition, Lincoln, Mo., won its fifth straight title, 82.5 to 69 over runner-up Abilene Christian.
The Wildcats' other national champions Saturday were Julius Nyango in the men's 800 and Davy Manga in the men's triple jump, and the women's team established another ACU record in the 1,600-meter relay with 3:33.66 for second behind record-setting Lincoln.
Naimadu erased a 24-year-old meet record while defeating Hogarth in the steeplechase. The ACU senior proved to be vulnerable after a narrow runner-up finish in the 10,000 meters here Thursday, but he appeared determined to remain undefeated in his specialty.
Hogarth, already a "B" standard qualifier for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing and the NCAA Division II leader this season, and Naimadu quickly established themselves as the leaders early in Saturday's race. Hogarth set the pace with Naimadu following closely.
At about 2,000 meters, Naimadu made his move and slowly pulled away from the bigger, stronger sophomore from New Zealand who is already invited to run in the Prefontaine Classic June 10 in Eugene, Ore. Naimadu finished in 8:36.24 with Hogarth well back in 8:44.97 in the battle between two world-class steeplechasers.
Naimadu, who won his 11th collegiate title for the Wildcats, more than any other ACU track and field athlete, admitted his muscles were aching Friday and earlier Saturday after his demanding 10,000-meter race Thursday night.
"I did some warming up (Saturday morning) around the hotel," he said. "I wanted to stay behind him, and then I decided to take the lead with two and one-half laps to go. I knew he was good at jumping the barriers. He is a very good competitor with a very strong kick.
"I knew I needed to stay next to him because it's hard to catch up if he gets away," the Kenyan said. "I didn't want to give him a chance. I wasn't focused on the record (through the middle of the race) because the pace was slow, but then I saw I had a chance. I am happy I got it."
Hogarth was also runner-up last year to Naimadu, who erased the meet record of 8:37.7 set in 1983 by Mike Vanatta of Southeast Missouri State.
It was Naimadu's third NCAA Division II title to go with three at the Penn Relays, two at the Texas Relays, one in the Lone Star Conference in 2005, and one at the 2007 ACU Track Classic.
"I wanted more than anything in the world for him to win his last race," Hood said of Naimadu. "When he lost the 10,000 Thursday night, a lot of our guys went to him and said, 'Don't worry. Watch us.' And sure enough, they stepped up."
Manga was the second Frenchman to win a title here for the Wildcats after Camille Vandendriessche won the decathlon Friday. Manga had the three best marks Saturday in the triple jump (53-8.25, 52-7.25 and 52-5.5). Another Wildcat, Vladyslav Gorbenko, was second at 52-4.5 as the Wildcats dominated the event by scoring 18 points.
In the 800, Nyango, the LSC champion at 800 and 1,500, upset two- time champion Nick Lara of Adams State. The Wildcat sophomore stayed in contention through the first 700 meters, then overtook the veteran defending champion with a sprint to win, 1:49.05 to 1:49.76. The race came only 59 minutes after Nyango ran 3:49.11 for fifth in the 1,500.
"I told Julius, 'I know how tired you are. Just finish the race,' " Hood said of what he told Nyango before the 800. "He looked at me like, 'Just watch me finish the race.' "
ACU also got runner-up performances from Marvin Bien-Aime in the 200 (20.77) and Kyle Dennis in the pole vault (17-2.75). The 400 relay ran a season's best of 40.07 for fourth.
Also on Saturday, Johnny Jacob was third in the 400, Sylvester Williamson was sixth in the 100, Landon Ehlers was sixth in the pole vault, Andrew McDowell was eighth in the 110 hurdles, and the 1,600 relay team was eighth.
The Wildcat women's team got runner-up performances from its 1,600 relay team, Shawna-Kaye Thompson in the 400 hurdles (59.09), and Olha Kryv'yak in the steeplechase (10:39.16). Thompson was also seventh in the 100 hurdles.
The foursome of Keva Wilkins (53.1), Kim Prather (53.7), Denise Morgan (54.4) and Azraa Rounds (52.5) combined for the relay record. It took a meet record 3:32.31 by Lincoln to edge the Wildcats.
Also for the women, the 400 relay was third (44.61), Sasharine McLarty was seventh in the 100 and fourth in the 200, Wilkins (third) and Rounds (sixth) scored in the 400 (52.78), Mary Mwangi (third) and Venessa Whittle (sixth) placed in the 800, and Loice Cheboi was seventh in the steeplechase.
"I was proud of our girls," Hood said. "We set two school records and performed really well. We did a lot of good things. We ran our best times of the year at the national meet. We didn't lose; they just beat us. We're narrowing the gap."
