The nine members of the ASU Rambelles track and field team that headed to the NCAA Division II National Track and Field Championships this week in Charlotte, N.C., will be returning home with the program’s first national championship trophy.

By capturing 50 points in their final six events, the Rambelles ran away with the title, beating second place finisher and defending champion Lincoln University by 14 points, 87-73. And, it was a total team effort. Senior Aisha “Ice” Adams scored points in all six events she entered, including an individual national championship in the heptathlon. Senior Chrystal Ruiz scored points in multiple events, senior Andria Nussey rebounded from a poor showing in the long jump to set a new school record and place second in the 800-meters, and senior Celethia Byrd won an individual national championship in the 400-meter dash and finished third in the 200-meter dash, a result that clinched the title for ASU.

“I just said ‘thank you Lord,’” Byrd said. “That is all that was running through my mind. I was very happy, and to hear my time was a new personal record, it made me feel good. Most of all, I may not have to run the mile relay. That’s awesome!”

Byrd’s points from the 200-meters put the Rambelles ahead by 12 points with only the 4×400-meter (mile) relay left to run. That meant no team could catch them, regardless of what they did in that final race. What they did, though, was put their final stamp on the national meet by winning the relay in a school record 3:38.88 with Byrd on the track running the anchor leg. The result had coaches James Reid, Tom Dibbern and Gary Gabriel yelling, fist-pumping and high-fiving in the stands.

“That is unbelievable,” Dibbern said. “When it’s going right, it’s going right.”

“This is a great feeling,” he added. “It hurt real bad last year when we lost it, but this has totally erased it. Coaching-wise, I’ve never had a feeling like this. It’s the best feeling I’ve ever had coaching. It’s truly worth it.”

After confirming that his team had clinched the title, Reid finally calmed down enough to begin the task of texting the great news to just about everyone he knows.

“I asked Coach Dibbern about nine times if he was sure before I called anybody,” Reid said. “I called my wife and told her because they have been following it on the internet. I called my parents and I called Coach (Kathleen) Brasfield, Coach (David) Noble and a bunch of people who have had a lot of influence on me. It’s still a little surreal right now.”

“I just can’t say enough about the girls,” he added. “What helped us was nine young ladies busting their butts for three days straight and coming into this year with a goal and wanting to do it. Even over the last three days when we’ve had not such good things happen, they have been resilient, not lost sight of the goal and came up big time after time. I just can’t say enough about them.”

Meanwhile, the Rams were also in a battle to achieve their goal of finishing in the top 10 at the national meet. Their day started with junior Tyler Orlando and sophomore Jacob McDonald placing third and seventh in the javelin, gaining eight points for the team and All-America status for themselves.

In the discus, junior Wade Goode also garnered All-America status by finishing eighth and earning a point for his team. The 4×100-meter relay team of James Howell, Ryan Adkins, Brian Holik and Nick Smith became All-Americans with a sixth-place finish that picked up three points. Howell also set a new school record with a 45.95 in the 400-meters that was good enough for third place and six valuable points.

The Rams also capped off their national meet in style with a second-place finish in the 4×400-meter relay in 3:06.44, the second-fastest time in school history. That race finally let junior Terence Holland showcase his talents as, due to weather delays, he was forced to wait until the final event of the meet to get on the track.

“With all that waiting, something good was bound to happen,” Holland said. “I was ready to go last night in the rain, but had to keep the animal in the cage. This was my one shot and I wanted to make it my best one. Second-fastest time in school history, you can’t get mad about that.”

The final race also provided another shot at success for freshman Isidro Garcia, who missed qualifying for the individual 400-meters by mere hundredths of a second. Now, he is also an All-American.

“That is a great way to finish off the year,” he said. “I’m glad that we came out and competed to the best of our ability. I went into the race wanting to run a :46, but skipped right past that and ran a :45.7 and that is a big jump for me. Second place in the nation is really something big.”

When the dust had settled, the Rams had also achieved their goal as they finished tied for ninth place with 26 points.

“I’m proud of our girls,” Garcia said, “and I’m glad they are going to celebrate a national championship. But, top 10 in the nation is also something big for the guys and we are really glad to have gotten that high up.”

“I think we are going to get a lot of coverage because we won the championship with the women,” Reid said. “But, I don’t want to take anything away from the men because they had a great meet. There has only been a few times when both men’s and women’s teams have finished in the top 10 at a national meet, and that is something we wanted to do coming in.”

“For the guys to do it the way they did it by running that great mile relay was incredible,” he added. “They put it together and made it happen. It’s awesome, totally awesome.”

FULL STORY

– Courtesy ASU Sports Information

The Falcons ran away with the men’s competition on the third day, outscoring second-place challenger Abilene Christian 82 to 62. Central Missouri finished third with 38 points.

The Falcons won their 31st NCAA crown overall behind Josh Scott, who won the 200-meter and 400-meter dashes. Scott also anchored the winning 4×400 relay team and ran on the winning 4×100 squad.

Scott’s time of 45.11 seconds in the 400 is the 10th fastest in Division II history, and the 4×400 team’s time of 3:04.95 was the fastest in Division II this season. It was about two seconds faster than second-place Angelo State.

“This is second greatest achievement in my life,” said Scott, a junior from Winter Haven, Fla., says about his big day. “I can’t describe how happy I feel. Determination was the key to my success. There is no better way to go out.”

The Falcons started the day with five points but victories by Scott and Jason Boyd in the men’s 110 hurdles pushed the Falcons ahead by a comfortable margin about midway through the day. Boyd was the only runner in the 110 to cross the finish line in under 14 seconds (13.99), and Steve Simeus was seventh.

The Falcons sealed the victory in 200 when Scott finished first and teammates Richard Boone and Antonio Abney placed fourth and seventh, respectively. Abney also was fifth in the 400.

“The kids were on point,” legendary head coach George Williams said. “Everything was just so smooth. We didn’t give up anything. I got good performance from all my kids. You don’t win championships with one guy, you win championships with everybody.”

The Falcons set the tone earlier in the day in a near flawless performance in the 4×100 relay. The foursome of Scott, Boyd, Boone and Sean Stuart won easily in 39.75 seconds, the only time in the event under 40 seconds.

After Boyd and Scott both won their respective events, Boone (Fifth Place) and Stuart (Eighth Place) scored in the 100-meter dash to extend the Falcons’ lead to 13 points after 14 events. The Falcons finished strong with Scott winning the 200, and the 4×400 team including Scott, Boyd, Abney and Kelly Fisher racing to victory.

The Falcons also gained help from their jumpers. Christopher Copeland placed second in the high jump after facing Virginia State’s Hoova Taylor in a jump-off. Orolando Duffus was eighth in the triple jump after finishing fourth Thursday in the long jump. The combination of the sprinters and jumpers added up to another championship for Coach Williams and the Falcons.

In the women’s events, Barbara Pierre finished second in the 200 in 23.23 and Angelique Smith was seventh in the 400 in 55.17. The 4×400 relay team consisting of Pierre, Smith, Kyra Mobley and Sheena Johns placed third in 3:40.25, and the 4×100 team of Keisha Parris, Pierre, Smith and Johns was fourth in 45.53. The Lady Falcons placed 11th with 21 points in the women’s standings.

The national crown caps a marvelous athletic season for Saint Augustine’s College. The Falcons won seven CIAA championships, seven CIAA highest grade point average awards and the CIAA’s All-Sports Men’s Trophy for best men’s athletic program this season.

– Courtesy SAC Athletics

St. Augustine’s claimed the men’s crown with 94 points and Lincoln held off host Angelo State for the women’s team title with 85 points. St. Augustine’s claimed its first national men’s title since 2001, snapping a seven-year reign by Abilene Christian. Lincoln’s women’s victory was their sixth in the past seven seasons.

In the most anticipated event of the day in a field that included three Olympians, Lincoln’s Samoy Hackett outstretched Barbara Pierre from St. Augustine’s for the title in the women’s 100-meter dash. Hackett won the event in a time of 11.18, matching Pierre’s meet record set in the prelims. Pierre ended the finals in a time of 11.22. Lincoln’s Janika Martell was third in a time of 11.36.

It then came down to the 4×400 relay for the women’s title as Lincoln outran Angelo State by less than two seconds to capture the team crown. The Blue Tigers won the event in a time of 3:39.45 while ASU finished second at 3:41.38. District of Columbia was third at 3:42.81.

For the men, St. Augustine’s and Abilene Christian entered the final event tied at 84 points apiece. St. Aug’s 4×400 relay squad claimed the team title for the Falcons with a winning time of 3:06.90. Lincoln placed second in the event in a time of 3:08.22 and Fort Valley State third at 3:08.41.

FULL STORY

–Courtesy Angelo State Athletics

The victory gave the Falcons their 31st national championship overall (men’s and women’s indoor and outdoor) under acclaimed head coach George Williams including 12 men’s indoor titles.

The Falcons pulled away from Adams State for their latest men’s championship. Leading 67-66, the Falcons outscored Adams State 38-14 in the final five events.

The Falcons scored 23 points in the pivotal 200-meter dash when Josh Scott (Winter Haven, Fla.) won the race and teammates Dennis Boone (Petersburg, Va.) and Travon Lee (Norwalk, Calif.) finished second and fourth, respectively. The Falcons ended the meet on an emphatic note as the 4×400 relay team of Scott, Lee, Antonio Abney (Willingboro, N.J.) and Rashaud Johnston (St. Louis, Mo.) won easily.

–Courtesy St. Augustine’s Atheletics

“The 200 was the key,” Williams said. “All three [runners] stepped up.” Scott also won the 400 dash for the Falcons, who scored 105 points. Adams State was second with 80 points and Abilene Christian was third with 62 points. While Scott and Joe Kindred (Fuquay-Varina, N.C.), who won the long jump and high jump Friday, were double winners, other Falcons stepped up as well. Boone and Ramon Gittens (St. Michael, Barbados) were second and third, respectively, in the 60 dash, Abney was third in the 400 dash, Jason Boyd (Bristol, Pa.) was fourth in the 60 hurdles and Christopher Copeland (Suffolk, Va.) was fifth in the high jump. Brandon Quarles (Phoenix, Ariz.) was second and Kindred was fourth, respectively, in the triple jump.

There also were several highlights for the Lady Falcons, who finished seventh in the women’s standings with 32 points. Lincoln (Mo.) won the women’s national championship with 100.50 points followed by Grand Valley State with 48 points and Central Missouri with 41 points.

Barbara Pierre (Winter Haven, Fla.), who competed in the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China, won the 60 dash in 7.27 seconds which broke the meet record (7.29) Pierre set in Friday’s preliminaries. The win also gave Pierre her third straight indoor national crown in the 60 dash.

Angelique Smith (Union City, Calif.) was second in the 200 dash and fifth in the 400 dash. Kirsten Fields (Mount Vernon, NY) placed third in the triple jump.

The men won the team title for the 17th time and the women won for the 10th time. And it marks the seventh time the teams have won the title in the same year. The men’s team earned 108.5 points to out-distance runner-up St. Augustine’s by six and a half points. Ashland was third, Adams State fourth and Lincoln fifth.

On Saturday, the Wildcats won four individual men’s titles – 400 (Raymond Radway, 46.35), 3,000-meter steeplechase (Daniel Maina, 8:53.61), 110 high hurdles (Billy Walker, 13.86), and discus (Nick Jones, 56.99 meters).

The women’s Wildcats ran away with the win. They scored 76.5 points and won by 21.5 points over runner-up Adams State. Lincoln was third, UC San Diego fourth and Southern Illinois-Edwardsville fifth. Abilene Christian’s women won three individual titles – 400 (Keva Watkins, 54.05), 3,000-meter steeplechase (Winrose Karunde, 10:20.42) and javelin (Linda Brivule, 51.74 meters). Karunde’s and Brivule’s victories were meet records. She surpassed the time of 10:22.06, set by Jennifer Michel of Western State in 2001. Brivule’s distance of 169-9 topped the mark of 169-0, set by Amber Miller of Angelo State in 2003.

Dennis Boone of St. Augustine was a double-winner as he took the two sprints, the 100 and 200. He won the 100 in 10.21 seconds and less than an hour later won the 200 in 20.65. Chico State’s Scott Bauhs, who won last year’s 10,000 title, won his only event of the meet – the 5,000. He won in 14:00.65.

St. Augustine’s Barbara Pierre successfully defended her title in the 100 meters. She won in 11.47 seconds.

–Courtesy Cal Poly Pomona Athletics