KATIE PISTORESI | guest writer
The Cougars have won the title for the 2008 NAIA men’s indoor track and fi eld champion and placed second in the women’s division. They did it in a way that kept everyone on the edge of the seats and now brings great anticipation for their outdoor season.
With the fi nal score being 64 ¾ to 64, the men’s victory was decided by one of the smallest margins in the 43-year history of the NAIA indoor track and fi eld.
This three-day competition all came down to the fi nal two remaining events for both the men’s and women’s meets.
For the men it came down to the distance medley and the 4x400-meter relays. Leading up to these two events, the Cougars held the lead at 53 3/4 to 52 over Oklahoma Baptist University. Both teams now had to face each other two fi nal times, that would determine the victor of the entire meet.
The Cougars won the distance medley with an amazing move in the anchor leg as junior distance runner Aron Rono took the baton in fi fth place, obtained the lead, and then kept it for the victory. With this win, the Cougars widened their lead with a 5 3/4 point margin.
In 4x400-meter relay OBU needed to take at least second place to steal the victory from APU. The Cougars competed with an improvised team that had junior sprinter Anthony Logan as the opener and senior mid-distance runner Caleb Lynch as the anchor.
At the start of the race the Cougars found themselves in fourth place with OBU in second. As the race continued the Cougars moved to fi fth and OBU briefl y took the lead. Towards the end the Cougars were in sixth place and OBU had moved back down to third. OBU’s Ross Harlan chased after the second place Greg Torres of Doane College but he could not catch him, placing OBU in third place by .45 of a second.
With OBU’s failure to grasp second place and APU’s accumulation of points, the Cougars proved victorious took the championship title with a 3/4 of a point margin. The Lady Cougars also had a dramatic run in the competition as they went into the fi nal two events.
With the Cougars leading 64 to 63 over Wayland Baptist University, only the distance medley relay and the 4x400-meter remained. Out of the two teams, only the Cougars were being represented in the distance medley and only WBU was represented in the 4x400-meter. The Cougars event was fi rst and they fi nished in third place, giving
them a seven point lead, putting their score at 70. The Cougars then had to wait and see how WBU would do.
WBU had to fi nish in at least second place and in the fi nal 400 meters; they positioned themselves to second place and took it by .8 of a second. With WBU’s second place victory, they took fi rst place in the overall meet with a score of 71-70, which is the second closest fi nish in the NAIA women’s indoor track and fi eld championship’s 23- year history.
With the success the Cougars have had and the way in which they perform, there is great anticipation to watch the Cougars once again compete.
Two major events that are coming their way include the GSAC Championship in April that will be held at APU and the National Championships in May that will take place in St. Louis. Men’s head coach Kevin Reid said the win at Nationals for the indoor season is a great kick off for their outdoor season and brings them even more momentum.
