Sunday, April 23, 2000

Alexander breaks pair of marks
By Ted Dunnam
Reporter-News Staff Writer

SAN ANGELO — Put a strong West Texas wind behind some good track and field athletes and long-standing records are going to get blown away.

Abilene Christian University sprinter Nic Alexander erased NFL great Darrell Green’s name from the record books by blazing to wins in the 100 and 200 meters in leading the Wildcats to their seventh consecutive Lone Star Conference track and field championship Saturday at the Angelo State University Multipurpose Sports Complex.

While the men were erasing a 55-point deficit to Angelo State University, the Lady Wildcats rolled to their 17th LSC title in as many meets.

Alexander had wind-aided times of 10.19 in the 100 and 20.55 in the 200 meters. Green had held the LSC records of 10.24 and 20.67 since 1982.

The ACU men finished with 191 points to defeat ASU by 27 points while the women outscored runner-up Angelo, 213-166. Although the ACU men had to rally for their victory, in the end both team titles wound up being formalities.

“There were a lot of good performances out there,’’ ACU head track coach Jon Murray said. “The men kind of gave us a scare, but they really came back strong in most of the running events.

“John (Kemboi) was really impressive and for Nic to break two of Darrell Green’s records is pretty big. I guess the most pleasant surprise today was Shawntel (Newhouse) coming back to win the 100 after winning the hurdles.’’

After Saturday’s performance, Alexander now has the fastest times in the nation in NCAA Division II for the 100 and 200 meters.

“I knew I had the 100 won from the start,’’ Alexander said. “I got out of the blocks very good. I slowed up at the end to save something for the 200.’’

Alexander held off teammate Julieon Raeburn, who sprinted to a 20.64 clocking.

Raeburn earlier won the 400 meters with a 47.14 time, running the final 100 meters into a 20-30 mile-per-hour wind.

“The first 200 meters was pretty easy,’’ Raeburn said, “but the last 100 was very tough. I’ve run a 46.4 before so today’s time was OK.’’

The Wildcats trailed Angelo State by 55 points after the steeplechase, but outscored the Rams 24-0 in the 1,500 meters, 24-2 in the 400-meter hurdles and 18-1 in the 800.

Jason Prann, Nick Gaffney and David Jones were ACU’s 1-2-3 finishers in the hurdles with Prann easily winning in 51.90. John Kemboi, Gilbert Tuhabonye and Alfred Rugema went 1-2-3 in the 1,500 meters with Kemboi posting a winning time of 3:52.81.

Kemboi and Tuhabonye also went 1-2 in the 800 meters.

“The wind was somewhat difficult in the 1,500,’’ Kemboi said. “I felt strong for both races and was very happy to win two races.”

Hillerie Shelton and Geraldine George got the Lady Wildcats off to a fast start by winning the triple jump and javelin, respectively.

Shelton sailed a career-best 42 feet, three inches while teammate Dawnyel Newhouse placed third with an effort of 39-3.

“I wasn’t expecting that at all,’’ Shelton said of her winning jump. “I felt really good in all phases of my jump. I wanted to go 41 feet, but I didn’t think I would get 42.

“It didn’t feel like a 42-foot jump. My goal has been to go 41 feet and I finally did it.’’

George cruised to victory in the javelin with a throw of 146 feet, five inches, easily outdistancing the effort of Laurie Foster of Texas A&M-Commerce, who threw 132-5.

ACU’s Meredith Garner set a conference record in the pole vault, clearing 13-0 3/4.

“I knew I could go 13 feet because I did it indoors,’’ Garner said. “I was just happy I qualified for the Olympic trials. My next goal is to go 13-5. If I do that, then everything is fully funded for me there.’’

Shawntel Newhouse was another ACU double-winner, claiming victories in the 100 meters and 100-meter hurdles.

“With the wind, I was hoping I could run a 13.5 or 13.4,’’ Newhouse said. “I hit one hurdle — I don’t remember which one — but other than that it was a pretty smooth race. I’m definitely happy with the time.’’

Marichea Austin and Marie Womplou finished 1-2 for ACU in the 400 meters while Angie Waters put together a strong finishing kick to rally for a victory in the 800 meters.