GRANT BOONE INTERVIEW WITH SENIORS BAPTISTE KERJEAN AND AYESHA RUMBLE
ABILENE – The Abilene Christian track and field program returns to Lubbock and the campus of Texas Tech University this weekend for the two-day Masked Rider Open. Nearly all 42 of this year's Wildcats are expected to compete.
Events begin Friday at 5 p.m. with the weight throw while the first races will commence at 6 p.m. with the distance medley relay followed by the 1000-meter run, 600-yard dash, 200m and 5000m. Saturday's schedule begins at 10 a.m. with the triple jump and concludes with the 4x400 relay.
The ACU women's team returns a bulk of last year's roster, which earned a 14th-place showing at the NCAA Indoor Championships, eighth-place outdoor finish and runner-up title at the Lone Star Conference Championships. The ladies were especially strong in the sprints and are expected to be so again with the additions of 2012 London Olympians Elea Diarra and Reyare Thomas to a stable that already features all-Americas Karolyn Palmer, Sydney Smith, Shennae Steele and Lexus Williams. Cassie Brooks, who placed 15th at NCAAs in the heptathlon with 4,337 points, may also be seen in the 200m as she was several times last outdoor season.
Diarra, a native of Lyon, France, comes to ACU with no previous collegiate experience, but her international medal count includes a bronze with the 4x400-meter relay at the 2012 European Championships and a gold for winning the 400-meter title at the 2011 French National Championships. Her indoor personal bests according to All-Athletics.com include a 24.60 in the 200m and 55.48 in the 400m, both of which are very close to the NCAA automatic qualifying standards.
Thomas hails from Trinidad & Tobago and was a three-time national junior college champion (100m, 200m outdoor; 60m indoor) as a sophomore last year for Iowa Central Community College, which won the 2012 NJCAA indoor team championship. She will compete in a majority of the sprints and owns personal bests of 7.37 (60m), 11.30 (100m) and 24.23 (200m).
Palmer, Smith, Steele and Williams combined for eight all-America citations and four conference championships in 2012. This quartet placed fourth at NCAA outdoors in the 4x100 (45.87 seconds), and during the indoor season, Palmer and Williams teamed with Karla Hope and Ayesha Rumble to finish seventh in the 4x400 (3:50.06).
At the conference level, Steele won the 100m and 200m, while Williams finished first in the 100m hurdles. Both were also part of the winning 4x400 with Rumble and Hope. Rumble excelled as mid-distance runner in her first year at ACU, garnering all-America titles in the outdoor 800m (4th, 2:12.65) and the indoor/outdoor 4x400m.
Despite winning three LSC titles and scoring 24.5 points for the Wildcats, teammate and distance runner Chloe Susset edged Steele for the conference's Most Outstanding Track and Field Athlete award. Susset recorded a tremendous 2011-12 campaign, which included a regional cross country championship and a pair conference titles in the 1500 and steeplechase that raised her career total to five. Susset has won three consecutive LSC steeplechase titles and two in the 1500.
Senior Amanda Ouedraogo is ACU's most decorated returning field athlete with four all-America awards and two conference titles in the triple jump. Ouedraogo won her first national indoors title in 2012 with a leap of 42 feet-1.5 inches (12.84) and later finished second outdoors to Kearah Danville of New Mexico Highlands with an effort of 42-8.50 (13.01). Ouedraogo also eclipsed 40 feet to win at conference, New Balance and Penn Relays, and in the spring, came within an inch of tying Stephanie Warren's outdoor school record of 43-4.25 at the Texas Relays.
In the throws, assistant coach
Jerrod Cook has a strong, experienced corps coming back led by senior Shalania Lakey, juniors Amelia Mitchell and Tara Riley, and sophomore Lauren Hartwick. Wilder made the all-region team in both the weight and hammer throw, while Hartwick is the returning conference champion in the hammer (163-04, 49.79).
Lakey registered several NCAA provisional marks between the weight and hammer throws. Mitchell finished as the conference runner-up in the javelin behind a season-best launch of 136-5 (41.59m).
The men's team returns just three of last year's seven all-Americas – sprinter and LSC Outstanding Male Track Athlete Jordan Geary, thrower Baptiste Kerjean, and multi-athlete Parker Petty – but brought in 11 newcomers who should provide an immediate impact.
At 6-foot-5 and 220 pounds, thrower Andrew Hudson is one of the team's biggest additions and just last week at Texas Tech he finished third in his first-ever collegiate weight throw with a distance of 54-0 (16.46m). Hudson transferred to ACU from Oklahoma State, where he ranks eighth all-time in the discus with a throw of 175 feet-7 inches (53.32 meters). The former Cowboy football player also competed at the 2012 NCAA West Preliminaries and made the USTFCCA and Big 12 Conference All-Academic teams the last two years.
Joining Hudson in the throws are ACU freshman defensive lineman Josh Bloom, junior Aaron Bynum, rookie Jelani Rainey and Kerjean, who finished no lower than third through seven hammer competitions a year ago and earned a bronze medal at outdoor nationals with a personal best of 210-9 (64.25). The Frenchman also won a conference title and set an Elmer Gray Stadium record with a toss of 210-3 (64.08).
Most of the freshmen recruited for this year will be helping to fill a large void left the sprints by departed upperclassmen Dennis Bain, Paris Robertson and Levance Williams – all of who were all part of ACU's national runner-up 4x100 relay along with Geary.
Geary is the most experienced of all the Wildcat sprinters, and as a senior with a championship resume, he will be counted on to provide leadership to an incoming class that features Florida prospects Jeremy Tatham and Johnathan Farquharson plus Texas recruits Devin Brown and Keaton Hart.
Hart is the grandson of former ACU academic administrator and tennis coach Dwain Hart, while Tatham is the son of the Wildcats' school record holder in the outdoor long jump, Mazel Thomas.
Hart comes to ACU from the Houston area and Northland Christian High School, where he was a star athlete in the sprints, triple and long jumps. Tatham attended St. Thomas Aquinas and this past year he placed fourth in the state triple jump and finished third at regionals in the long jump, 110 and 300 hurdles.
Brown is from nearby Tuscola, graduated from Abilene Wylie High School in 2012, and last spring placed third in the 100 and fifth in the 200 at the Texas 3A State Championships.
Farquharson is originally from the Bahamas, but attended Orlando Christian Preparatory in Florida. His medals from last year include silvers in the 100 and 200 and gold in the long jump.
Another youngster who will help in the jumps this season is Houston native and Cypress Creek graduate Malcolm Barnes, who placed fifth in the triple jump last year at the regional level.
ACU wide receiver and junior Darian Hogg is the Wildcats' top returning long jumper after qualifying for NCAAs behind a season-best leap of 24-2.50 (7.38m). He also finished second in the long jump at West Texas before finishing fourth at conference.
Anchoring the middle-distance events are sophomore Osei Alleyne-Forte, Banjo Jaiyesimi and James Grantham, each of who earned all-region distinctions in the distance-medley relay for recording a third-place time of 10:16.83 (3) at the Texas Tech Open. Jaiyesimi, a senior, also made all-region in the 800 and later qualified for NCAAs in the outdoor 800 with a season best of 1:50.46.
Veterans Gary Duncan and Erik Forrister along with freshmen Xavier King and Taylor Ochs comprise the long-distance portion of the ACU roster. King was the Wildcats' best cross country runner last fall and earned all-conference honors after finishing the 8K course with a time of 25:59.
Petty, a senior and 2012 all-America in the heptathlon, leads a multi-athlete group that also features senior Matthew Stark and freshman Luke Woods. Stark did well in his first meet of the indoor season last week, lowering his 55-hurdle time from 8.79 to 8.50 and quarter-mile mark from 53.89 to 52.47, while raising his career best indoor pole vault height to 14-01.25 (4.30m).
Woods is another Houston product and during his final year of high school he placed third in the 300 hurdles and fourth in the 110 high hurdles at the TAPPS 4A meet. He also had a good showing at the Texas Relays, placing seventh in the D-I 110 hurdles.
In Woods' Wildcat debut last Saturday, he beat both Petty and Stark in the 55 hurdles with a time of 8.36 and later clocked a mark of 8.31 in the finals.
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Abilene Christian University Men
Returning Letterwinners: 11 /
Newcomers: 11
Breakdown By Event:
Sprints/Relays (7): Osei Alleyne-Forte (So.), Devon Brown (Fr.), Johnathan Farquharson (Fr.), Jordan Geary (Sr.), Keaton Hart (Fr.), Banjo Jaiyesimi (Sr.) and Jeremy Tatham (Fr.).
Distance (5): Gary Duncan (Jr.), Erik Forrister (Jr.), James Grantham (Sr.), Xavier King (Fr.) and Taylor Ochs (Fr.)
Jumps (2): Malcolm Barnes (Fr.), Darian Hogg (Jr.)
Throws (5): Josh Bloom (Fr.), Aaron Bynum (Jr.), Andrew Hudson (Jr.), Baptiste Kerjean (Jr.) and Jelani Rainey (Fr.)
Multi-Events (3): Parker Petty (Sr.), Matthew Stark (Sr.) and Luke Woods (Fr.)
Returning NCAA All-Americas (3):
Jordan Geary (4x100)
Baptiste Kerjean (Hammer)
Parker Petty (Heptathlon)
Additional Returning NCAA Participants:
Darian Hogg (Long Jump)
Banjo Jaiyesimi (Outdoor 800)
Parker Petty (Decathlon)
Returning All-Region (6):
Osei Allyene-Forte (4x400, Distance Medley Relay)
Jordan Geary (200, 400, 4x100, 4x400)
James Grantham (Distance Medley Relay)
Banjo Jaiyesimi (800, 4x400, Distance Medley Relay)
Baptiste Kerjean (Hammer)
Parker Petty (Heptathlon, Decathlon)
Returning Lone Star Conference Champions and All-Lone Star Conference (3): Jordan Geary (400), Baptiste Kerjean (Hammer) and Parker Petty (Decathlon)
NCAA Indoor Finish: 20th, 12 points /
NCAA Outdoor Finish: 5th, 50 points
Lone Star Conference: 1st, 176.33
Roosevelt Lofton - LSC Men's Coach of the Year
Jordan Geary - LSC's Outstanding Male Track Athlete
Abilene Christian University Women
Returning Letterwinners: 18 /
Newcomers: 2
Breakdown By Event:
Sprints/Hurdles/Relays (7): Cassie Brooks (Sr.), Elea Diarra (So.), Karolyn Palmer (So.), Sydney Smith (Sr.), Shennae Steele (Sr.), Reyare Thomas (Jr.) and Lexus Williams (So.)
Middle Distance/Relays (2): Ayesha Rumble (Sr.) and Mariah Welty (So.)
Distance (6): Rachel Belcher (Jr.), Kayla Calvert (Jr.), Alyse Goldsmith (Sr.), Oksana Hayes (So.), Emily Hill (So.) and Chloe Susset (Sr.)
Jumps (1): Amanda Ouedraogo (Sr.)
Throws (4): Lauren Hartwick (So.), Shalania Lakey (Sr.), Amelia Mitchell (Jr.) and Tara Riley (Jr.)
Multi-Events (1): Cassie Brooks (Sr.)
Returning NCAA All-Americas (6):
Amanda Ouedraogo (Indoor/Outdoor Triple Jump)
Karolyn Palmer (Outdoor 4x100, Indoor 4x400)
Ayesha Rumble (Outdoor 800, Indoor/Outdoor 4x400)
Sydney Smith (Outdoor 4x100)
Shennae Steele (Outdoor 4x100, Outdoor 4x400)
Lexus Williams (Outdoor 100 hurdles, Outdoor 4x100, Indoor 4x400)
Additional Returning NCAA Participants/Events:
Cassie Brooks (Outdoor Heptathlon)
Shennae Steele (Outdoor 100, 200)
Chloe Susset (Steeplechase)
Returning All-Region (9):
Emily Hill (Distance Medley Relay)
Amanda Ouedraogo (Triple Jump)
Karolyn Palmer (4x100, 4x400)
Ayesha Rumble (800, 4x400, Distance Medley Relay)
Sydney Smith (4x100)
Shennae Steele (100, 200, 4x100, 4x400)
Chloe Susset (1500, Mile, 3000 Steeplechase Distance Medley Relay)
Alexis Wilder (Weight Throw, Hammer Throw)
Lexus Williams (100, 60 Hurdles, 4x100, 4x400 Relay)
Returning All-Lone Star Conference Champions (6):
Lauren Hartwick (Hammer)
Amanda Ouedraogo (Triple Jump)
Ayesha Rumble (4x400)
Shennae Steele (100, 200, 4x400)
Chloe Susset (1500, Steeplechase)
Lexus Williams (100 hurdles, 4x400)
Returning All-Lone Star Conference (6):
Chloe Susset
Shennae Steele
Lexus Williams
Ayesha Rumble
Amanda Ouedraogo
Lauren Hartwick
NCAA Indoor Finish: 14th, 12 pts. /
NCAA Outdoor Finish: 8th, 25 pts.
Lone Star Conference: 2nd, 195 pts.
Chloe Susset - LSC's Most Outstanding Track and Field Athlete
