Sunday, April 9, 2000

Texas Relays: Wildcats take six victories Saturday
By Bill Hart
Special to the Reporter-News

AUSTIN — Geraldine George makes no bones about it. The javelin is still her favorite event. And Saturday at the Texas Relays, she showed why.

The senior from Abilene Christian University threw a personal best 177-6 to win the event over a field composed of NCAA Division I athletes. The throw was 17 feet better than her previous best this year and 16 feet farther than her previous best.

All in all, it was a strong showing for ACU in the college division as it won four more first places Saturday and six overall.

“The world looks good, it is a beautiful day,’’ said ACU coach Jon Murray about his athletes’ performances. “We had excellent representation in five different events today. No one got hurt, we had good experiences, so everything is a plus.’’

George had won the college division shot put on Friday and that qualified her for the university division event Saturday and finished fifth with a 46-11¦ effort.

The ACU men captured the 4x100 relay in 40.22 as anchor Julieon Raeburn came from five meters back to edge the Barton County Community College anchor leg at the tape. Other wins came from Shaka Huggins in the 110-meter hurdles and Nic Alexander in the 100 meters.

The ACU men’s 4x400 relay team finished second in the college division behind defending event champion Barton County. The Wildcats ran a 3:08.41 to record a season-best time and automatically qualify for the NCAA Division II outdoor national championship meet in May in North Carolina. George got her winning throw on her first attempt and she had two others more than 162 feet.

“The javelin is still my favorite event; I just compete in the shot put to get points for my team,’’ she said. “I guess I spend 60 percent of my workouts on the javelin.

“I give a lot of credit to my javelin coach, Coach D (Howard Dougherty). I knew I had a good tailwind and I just prayed for more help. I got up there, let it go, and got a good throw. I had a lot of faith today and it paid off.’’

She is believed to be the first ACU athlete to win two individual events at the Texas Relays since Paul Faulkner won the javelin and tied for first in the pole vault in 1951.

The sprint relay foursome of Oscar Meneses, Alexander, J.R. Holder and Raeburn didn’t threaten their best time of the year (39.76), and it took a great effort by the anchor to pull out the win.

“I like for people to be in front of me, because I don’t run as well when I have the lead,’’ Raeburn said. “I wouldn’t consider this win an upset, although Barton County has the meet record. We came here to win, but I didn’t expect Barton to be leading when I got the stick.’’

Huggins ran 14.16, a strong provisional qualifying time for the NCAA Division II meet, and his best of the year.

“I had a bad start and I thought it would cost me,” Huggins said. “But instead of working on my speed, I worked on my technique between the hurdles and that paid off. One of my goals coming into this year was to win this race and I am glad I was able to pull it off.’’

Alexander went into the 100-meter final with the third-fastest time, but that didn’t mean much to him.

“I usually start faster than I did today, but he (defending champion Mario Ponds of Kansas City Community College) got the better of me,’’ said Alexander, whose time was 10.33. “But about 10 to 15 meters into the race, I regrouped and built my momentum and speed. I think I could have run faster, but maybe next time.’’

John Kemboi of ACU was second in the Jerry Thompson mile, running 4:01.02, breaking the school record and setting the Lone Star Conference best ever.

Jason Prann of ACU ran 52.59 to finish second in the college division 400-meter hurdles, and teammate Nick Gaffney was sixth (55.38). Terrance Woods was fifth in the triple jump (52-10), a place ahead of former Big Spring athlete Drexel Owusu, now at Rice, who leaped 52-3\.

Ranger College was eighth in the women’s 4x800 relay (13:08.28), and former Wylie high jumper Michael Beasley, now at Texas Tech, tied for seventh (6-9¤ ). Michael Smith, the former Cooper athlete competing for Baylor, pulled out of the university 400-meter hurdles because of a sore Achilles heel.

In the high school division, Wylie finished third in the Division 1 1,600-meter relay (3:27.17) and Stamford was fifth (3:28.77) after Elgin and Greenhill were disqualified.

Brett Unger of Wylie finished eighth in the shot put with a strong 56-6¤ , the best in the Big Country this year.

Leandra Tate of Albany was seventh in the shot put (39-2¤ ), but Abilene High (42.90) failed to qualify for the finals in the boys 400 relay as did Dublin (52.45) and Coahoma (52.93) in the girls 400 relay.

On Friday, Cooper’s Dewayne Benoit not only won the 1,600-meter run, but his time of 4:13.46 ranks as the best schoolboy mark in the state so far this season. He topped his previous best by six seconds, then scratched in the 3,200 meters and came home. He had entered the 3,200 in case he wasn’t happy with his time in the 1,600.

“I just went down there and proved what I had to,’’ Benoit said. “I just knew with a big meet like that, that anybody could win the race. I ran pretty smart. With 600 meters left, I just took over. I tried to stay about fourth or fifth and let someone else set the pace until it was time to do my thing.’’

Benoit said that the strong competition was just what he needed.

“I know that out here, there’s not too much competition in the mile,’’ Benoit said. “Out there, there was all the competition I could handle, and I expected to do real well.’’

Saturday’s results

Men

University/College Division

University 100 — 1. Lindel Frater, Texas Christian, 10.08. 2. Darvis Patton, Texas Christian, 10.09. 3. Dwight Phillips, Arizona State, 10.12. 4. Lawrence Armstrong, Texas, 10.17. 5. Pierre Browne, Mississippi State, 10.21. 6. Kenneth Andam, Brigham Young, 10.28.

College 100 —1. Nic Alexander, Abilene Christian, 10.33. 2. Jamel Williams, Huston Tillotson, 10.39. 3. Andre Totten, Barton County, 10.46. 4. Edwin Jones, Southwestern Christian, 10.55. 5. Oscar Meneses, Abilene Christian, 10.56. 6. Michael Aston, Paul Quinn, 10.84.

University 110 hurdles—1. Bashir Ramsy, Texas A&M, 13.68. 2. Greg Scott, Louisiana State, 13.78. 3. Chris Stokes, George Mason, 13.87. 4. Thavius Nelson, Wisconsin, 13.92. 5. Calvin Williams, Texas, 13.94

College 110 hurdles—1. Shaka Huggins, Abilene Christian, 14.16. 2. Chris Pinnock, Barton County, 14.17. 3. Derek Zachary, Gardon City, 14.41. 4. Khaleel Lott, Barton County, 14.78. 5. Nick Gaffney, Abilene Christian, 14.84. 6. Chris Booth, Southern Arkansas, 14.99.

College 400 hurdles—1. Chris Hickman, Barton County, 51.74 seconds. 2. Jason Prann, Abiline Christion, 52.59. 3. Quane Baccus, Southwestern Christian, 52.63. 4. Darek Zachary, Garden City, 54.78. 5. Khaleel Lott, 55.30. 6. Nick Gaffney, Abilene Christian, 55.38.

University 4X1,500 relay—1. Arkansas (Adam Dailey, Ryan Travis, Sharif Karie, James Karanu) 15:35.83. 2. Kansas, 15:39.23. 3. Arizona, 15:39.41. 4. Texas A&M, 15:43.31. 5. Iowa State, 15:47.23. 6. McNeese State, 15:56.18.

University 400 relay—1. Texas Christian (Lindel Frater, Ricardo Williams, Darvis Patton, Kim Collins) 38.73. 2. Louisiana State, 39.66. 3. Texas, 39.88. 4. Arkansas, 40.41. 5. Texas Southern, 40.51. 6. Southern, LA, 40.52.

College 1,600 relay—1. Barton County (Chris Buckner, Shomari McKinzie, Jason Morgan, Kevin Davis) 3:07.55. 2. Abilene Christian, 3:08.41. 3. Garden City, 3:12.31. 4. Paul Quinn, 3:15.18. 5. Cloud City, 3:19.21. 6. Meridian, 3:30.12.

University 1,600 relay—1. Houston (Malik Belgrave, Karim Alston, Greg Christie, Anthony Aurtholee) 3:08.87. 2. Grambling State, 3:09.20. 3. 3:09.47. 3. Texas-Arlington, 3:09.47. 4. Hampton, 3:10.05. 5. Lamar, 3:10.24. 6. Stephen F. Austin, 3:12.57.

High Jump (Section B)—1. Jeff Mueller, Houston, 7-feet, 1-inches. 1. Ryan Fitzpatric, Purdue, 7-1. 3. Nick Decker, Houston, 7-1. 4. Andy Vanderwagen, Kentucky, 6-10 3/8. 5. Dante Johnson, Barton County, 6-10 3/8. 6. Joey Brunkhorst, Iowa State, 6-9 1/2.

Triple Jump (Section A)—1. Walter Davis, Barton County, 56-2. 2. Melvin Lister, Arkansas, 53-10. 3. Marcus Thomas, Louisiana State, 52-5. 4. Jason Word, Arkansas, 52-5. 5. Terrence Woods, Abilene Christian, 52-1. 6. Drexell Owusu, Rice, 50-6.

High Jump (Section A)—1. Mark Boswell, Texas, 7-7 3/8. 2. Kenny Evans, Arkansas, 7-5 3/8. 3. Ronald Nelson, Prairie View, 7-4 1/2. 4. Rod Newton, Mississippi State, 7-2 1/4. 5. Nick Decker, Houston, 7-2 1/4. 6. Shaun Guice, Purdue, 7-2 1/4.

Shot Put (Section A)—1. Janus Robberts, Southern Methodist, 65-0. 2. Jim Roberts, Brigham Young, 61-5 1/2. 3. Anders Holstrom, Wisconsin, 61-0 3/8. 4. Marcus Clavelle, Arkansas, 60-4 1/2. 5. Corey Middleton, Texas, 57-7 3/8. 6. Jamie Beyer, Iowa State, 56-7 1/4.

Pole Vault (Section A)—1. Russ Beller, Louisiana State, 18-8 3/8. 2. Eric Eshbach, Nebraska, 17-8 1/2. 3. Brent Callaway, North Carolina, 17-2 3/8. 3. TJ Kloster, Concordia, 17-2 3/8. 5. Michael McNamura, Oklahoma, 17-2 3/8. 6. Michael Westlund, 17-2 3/8.

Invitational Division

100—1. Kim Collins, Texas Christian, 10.07. 2. Coby Miller, Auburn, 10.09. 3. Jarmaine Holloway, MPL, 10.26. 4. Michael Price, Unattached, 10.33. 5. David Oaks, Nike, 10.35. 6. Raymond Stewart, Unattached, 10.37.35

110 hurdles—1. Jermichael Williams, Unattached, 13.74. 2. Kris Allen Texas A&M, 13.76. 3. John McAfee, Unattached, 13.8. 4. Jermain Cooper, Texas, 13.87. 5. Jeff Jackson, Austin All Stars, 14.01. 6. Kevin Ellis, Unattached, 14.26.

One mile run—1. Seneca Lassiter, Unattached, 3:59.09. 2. John Kemboi, Abilene Christian, 4:01.02. 3. Clyde Colenso, Unattached, 4:01.44. 4. Carlos Suarez, Texas-El Paso, 4:01.66. 5. Scott Anderson, Reebock Enclave, 4:02.39. 6. Dave Smith, Unattached, 4:04.97.

1,600 relay—1. Baylor (Peter Hauser, Zsolt Szegelt, Floyd Thompson, Brandon Couts) 3:04.11. 2. Texas Christian, 3:05.42. 3. Texas A&M, 3:06.78. 4. Texas, 3:08.11. 5. Oklahoma, 3:08.54. 6. East Carolina, 3:08.66.

1,600 relay (Section A)—1. AAI International (Dennis Darling, Eric Thomas, Chris Jones, Deon Minor) 3:04.45. 2. Oklahoma Exes, 3:04.81. 3. ITB, 3:04.99. 4. TNF Nutrition, 3:12.84.

High School

100 (Division I)—1. Lewis Hyman, Hearne, 10.35. 2. Raymond Huff, Giddings, 10.46. 3. Chris Harris, Elysian Fields, 10.70. 4. Robert Parham, Randolph, 10.75. 5. Quan Cosby, Mart, 10.91. 6. Shane Christian, Seymore, 10.92.

100 (DIvision II)—1. Trey Griffin, Lockhart, 10.47. 2. Brendan Christian, Austin Reagan, 10.52. 3. Duriel Laird, Bossier, LA, 10.55. 4. Lawrence Richardson, Galveston Ball, 10.68. 5. Christian Campbell, Austin Westlake, 10.73. Tavares Bain, Miami Northwestern, FL, 10.77.

110 hurdles (Division I)—1. James Ashley, Taylo, 14.42. 2. Nathaniel Garcia, Elgin, 14.45. 3. Andrew Carruthers, Central Catholic, 14.62. 4. Shauntee Lovings, LaGrange, 14.69. 5. Ryan Jefferey, Lorena, 14.72. 6. Erik Sheppard, 14.75.

110 hurdles (Division II)—1. Reggie Harrell, Arlington Lamar, 13.82. 2. Michael Thomas, Dallas Kimball, 13.86. 3. Richard Davidson, Lewisville, 14.10. 4. Rashaad Ben, Austin Lanier, 14.22. 5. Brian Hickman, Houston Westbury, 14.32. 6. Vammas Tinsley, Everman, 14.36.

800 relay—1. Austin Reagan (Kevin Williams, Charles Reed, Dominique Mackey, Brendan Christiansan) 1:25.69. 2. Miami Northwestern, FL, 1:25.91. 3. Dallas Carter, 1:26.04. 4. Houston Madison, 1:26.35. 5. Port Arthur Jefferson, 1:26.71. 6. Lancaster, 1:27.04.

1,600 relay (Division I)—1. Dallas Jesuit (Tony Carona, Michael Schulund, Omar Jenkins, Alex Altaffer) 3:18.77. 2. Sweeny, 3:24.39. 3. Abiline Wylie, 3:27.17. 4. Taylor, 3:27.17. 5. Stamford, 3:28.77. 6. La Grange, 3:29.67.

1,600 relay (Division II)—1. San Antonio Holmes (Cedric Griffin, Robert Quiruga, Omar Rubio, Darold Williamson) 3:15.47. 2. Killeen Ellison 3:16.83. 3. South Grand Prairie, 3:17.24. 4. Lancaster, 3:18.30. 5. Dallas Carter, 3:18.47. 6. Galveston Ball, 3:18.47

Distance medley relay—1. Lockhart (Jonathon Yanez, Jason Gould, Juan Cardenas, Justin Schuelke) 10:26.16. 2. Katy Taylor, 10:30.22. 3. Parr San Juan Alamo, 10:34.93. 4. Mesquite Poteet, 10:35.80. 5. The Colony, 10:36.56. 6. The Woodlands, 10:41.44.

Discus—1. Johnathan Reeves, Fort Bend Austin, 195-0. 2. Jerry Lapiont, Beaumont Central, 192-6. 3. Matt McKinney, Refugio, 189-8. 4. Adam Dorian, Duncan, OK, 185-3. 5. Jimmy Hargrove, Buna, 176-8. 6. Derek Randall, Beeville Jones, 176-8.

Women

University/College Division

100—1. Brianna Glenn, Arizona, 11.24. 2. Lakeesha White, Texas, 11.27. 3. Aleah Williams, Texas, 11:29. 4. Shaunta Pelham, Florida A&M, 11.42. 5. Wyllesheia Myrick, Miami, 11.45. 6. Laquinta Manahan, Texas-Arlington, 11.64.

100 hurdles—1. Joyce Bates, Louisiana State, 12.82. 2. Jenny Adams, Houston, 13.00. 3. Nicole Hoxie, 13.04. 4. Kristin Bolm, Brigham Young, 13.23. 5. April Sams, Louisiana State, 13.26. 6. Vonette Dixon, Auburn, 13.34.

400 relay—1. Texas (Nicole Hoxie, Moushaumi Robinson, Lakeesha White, Aleah Williams) 43.95 seconds. 2. Barton County, 44.35. 3. Louisiana State, 44.49. 4. South Florida, 44.85. 5. Florida A&M, 44.85. 6. Arizona, 44.86.

1,500 —1. Liz Diaz, Texas, 4:16.90. 2. Shaquandra Roberson, Rice, 4:24.69. 3. Erin Sims, Texas, 4:25.95. 4. Evette Turner, Texas Tech, 4:26.37. 5. Dawn Charlier, Houston, 4:28.26. 6. Hanna Ritakallio, Tulane, 4:29.11

1,600 relay—1. Texas (Nakiya Johnson, Angel Patterson, Moushami Robinson, tanya Jarrett) 3:31.41. 2. Louisiana State, 3:34.09. 3. Baylor, 3:35.48. 4. Arizona State, 3:37.80. 5. Texas-El Paso, 3:38.11. 6. Miami, 3:38.35.

Javelin (Section A)—1. Gearldine George, Alibene Christian, 177-6. 2. Liza Randjelovic, Southern Methodist, 172-5. 3. Katy Doyle, Texas A&M, 168-7. 4. Catherine Betz, Tulane, 160-4. 5. Regena Roe, Northwestern State, 152-9. 6. Andrea Bulat, Kansas, 130-4.

Triple Jump (Section A)—1. Keisha Spencer, Louisiana State, 45-6. 2. Nicole Gamble, Nike, 43-11. 3. Stacy Bowers, Unattached, 43-9. 4. Shelly-Ann Gallimore, Auburn, 43-2. 5. Kerine Black, South Florida, 42-9. 6. Bianca Rockett, Louisiana State, 42-7

Shot Put (Section A)—1. Dawn Dumble, Reebok Bruin Track, 55-11 3/8. 2. Amber Crumbo, Arkansas, 49-10. 3. Ashley Dorsey, Texas-Arlington, 48-10. 4. Adrienne Judie, Arizona State, 47-1 3/8. 5. Bambi Carson, Oklahoma, 46-11 3/8. 6. Gearldine George, Abilene Christian, 46-10.

Invitational Division

100 —1. Lakeshia Backus, Texas Ex’s, 11.28. 2. Angie Vaughn, Texas Ex’s, 11.36. 3. Tonya Carter, Florida State, 11.38. 4. Agne Visockatie, McKendree College, 11.40. 5. Tanya Lawrence, MPL, 11.44. 6. Alicia Tyson, MPL, 11.73.

100 hurdles—1. Brigitte Foster, MPL, 12.95 seconds. 2. Michelle Johnson, Tucson Elite, 13.08. 3. Tamike Higgins-Francis, NTI Global, 13.16. 4. Nikki Bouyer, Tuscon Elite, 13.25. 5. Damu Cherry, South Florida, 13.37, 13.37. 6. Taneeshia Jones, Mississippi, 13.52.

400 relay—1. Austin All-Stars, 39.16 seconds. 2. New Era SC, 39.18. 3. Canadian National Team A, 39.59. 4. TFN Nutrition, 40.42. 5. Canadian National Team B, 40.65

800 relay (Section A)—1. Austin All-Stars (Obadele Thompson, Bruny Surin, Glen Smth, Milton Malliard) 1:21.70. 2. TFN Nutrition, 1:24.85.

High School

100 (Division II)—1. Ashlee Williams, Dallas Bishop Dunne, 11.76. 2. Stephanie Adams, Brenham, 11.86. 3. Rachelle Evans, Dallas Carter, 11.94. 4. Matilda Baker, 11.95. 5. Angela Taylor, Austin Reagan, 11.95. 6. Monique Lee, Navasota, 12.06.

100 (Division I)—1. Meoucha Davis, Giddings, 12.12. 2. Erika Preston, Mart, 12.27. 3. Ronniqua Wilson, Trinity Christian, 12.37. 4. Brandi Sewell, Dallas Bishop Dunne, 12.47. 5. Courtney Fischer, St. Agnes Academy, 12.51. 6. Kristi Tonn, St. Stephens, 12.52.

1,600 relay (Division II)—1. Houston Westbury, 3:44.45. 2. Lancaster, 3:44.88. 3. Arlington Sam Houston, 3:45.74. 4. Austin Reagan, 3:51.95. 5. Dallas Kimball, 3:52.05. 6. Dallas Spruce, 3:53.37.

1,600 relay (Division I)—1. Crawford (Jodi Jones, Meghan Kelm, Meredith Minnix, Jamie Jones) 4:02.02. 2. Robinson, 4:03.45. 3. Ursaline Academy, 4:03.79. 4. Dallas Baptist Lynch, 4:04.85. 5. Forney, 4:05.21. 6. Giddings, 4:08.29.

Distance medley relay—1. Klein, 12:04.29. 2. Georgetown, 12:33.27. 3. Hightower, 12:34.95. 4. A&M Consolidated, 12:42.44. 5. San Antonio MacArthur, 12:43.55. 6. Mullen, CO, 12:44.01.