ACU women take 13th LSC championship in 14 years

By BILL HART
Sports Editor

COMMERCE - Look in Webster's unabridged dictionary and under the word "compete" you'll probably find the pictures of Karen Vann and Lindsay Welsh.

The two Abilene Christian University seniors did just that Saturday at the Lone Star Conference track meet Saturday, helping the Lady Wildcats dominate the meet with 248 points. Angelo State was second with 192 points.

This is ACU's 13th LSC championship in 14 years. Last year, the meet was canceled because of bad weather.

Vann won the 800 (2:09.58) and the 1,500 (personal best 4:29.89). She set meet and Memorial Stadium records in both and also qualified automatically for the NCAA Division II meet in each.
Welsh also set personal and meet records in the long jump (20-9) and had a personal best in the triple jump (42-01/4). Both qualified her automatically for the national meet. Neither jump was wind-aided as the meet was held in near-perfect weather Saturday.

And how she competed in the triple jump. She was leading going into the last round with a 40-7 effort, but Amy Bippert of Angelo State went a best-ever 41-111/2 to grab the lead.

Welsh was equal to the task and came up with her best jump by seven inches to win the event.
"When Amy got her best jump, that motivated me all the more," Welsh said. "I had felt good all day and I said to myself, 'I can do it.' So, I moved my steps back a few inches and took off.

"In the long jump, everything went well. I was as relaxed as I've been and I stayed in the air longer. I was able to concentrate better after I jumped 20-9 on my second attempt. I had better speed today and that allowed me to do better on the last stretch of my runs."

ACU won every running event except the 10,000 meters Friday night and the 200 Saturday. Former May sprinter Vicki Lee won that event in 24.77 after ACU's Mary Tombiri-Shirey pulled out of the event, complaining of an injury.

But Vann was the only double winner. Her 1,500 time was her best ever by four seconds and her 800 time was her second best ever.

"I'm not doing anything different from the past, I've just been getting stronger little by little each year," Vann said. "I ran well at nationals last year and that has helped my confidence. This is the first time that I've ever qualified for nationals automatically.

"But I couldn't believe the clock when I looked up after the races, but I felt good last week. It was great today because there was no wind and it wasn't that hot."

Vann beat teammates Casi Florida in the 1,500 and Patrice Peart in the 800. Peart's 2:10.74 also qualified automatically for nationals. Welsh was named the outstanding field event performer and Vann the outstanding runner.

ACU won both relays, the 400 (45.49) and the 1,600 (3:44.64) in easy fashion. In the latter, Welsh led off in 62.0, the first time she's run on the quartet, followed by Katina Sommers (54.1), Patrice Peart (55.0) and Tracey Barnes (53.2).

Other ACU individual winners were Tombiri-Shirey (11.46 100), Barnes (53.53 400), Casi Florida (10:05.95 3,000), Ruth Jaime (18:36.99 5,000), Delloreen Ennis (13.62 100 hurdles), Carlene Vassell (61.79 400 hurdles) and Ranessa Crawford (143-9 discus). Jaime's win was the fifth LSC championship in her four-year career at ACU.

ACU scored a whopping 197 points in the running events, scoring in all 12 events. The Lady Wildcats scored at least 20 points in three events and went 1-2 in seven races. The best event was the 100 where Tombiri-Shirey, Amara Ezem, Donna Hinkson and Bumieghia Tombiri went 1-2-3-4 for 28 points.

They now have 14 automatic qualifiers for the national meet May 23-25 in Riverside, Calif., where they are the defending champions.