May 24, 2006

By Gary Pine, Azusa Pacific Sports Information

FRESNO, Calif. -  Will this be the return of the king or the crowning of a new ruler? Is a new dynasty about to be established or is there a different empire on the horizon?  The 55th Annual NAIA Men's Outdoor Track & Field Championships will settle those issues and more when 103 schools meet in Fresno, Calif., this week to battle for one team championship and 24 event titles in what is typically the largest collegiate track & field meet in the United States.

Past NAIA Outdoor Championships have been the site of dramatic moments and thrilling finishes, and this year's run to the title may be no different. Among the pre-meet favorites to capture the ultimate prize - the team championship - are 3 schools all with unique backgrounds heading into the 2006 championship meet. 

Dickinson State University (N.D.) is the two-time defending champ and seeking to become only the fifth school in association history to capture three consecutive crowns.  It is a dynasty in the making for the Blue Hawks, who are taking 13 athletes to Fresno, including a pair of returning national champions - Aaron Cleare, a two-time winner in the 400 meters, and Trevor Berry, who won last year's long jump with only the second 25-foot leap in the past nine NAIA meets. 

In winning the past two NAIA outdoor crowns, the Blue Hawks surpassed 90 points each time, but they may be hard-pressed to reach that plateau this year.  Reigning indoor champion Lindenwood University (Mo.), which won the 2003 outdoor title, goes head-to-head with Dickinson State in five different events.  The two powers could wash each other out of the championship run, or if either gets the best of the other, gain a significant advantage in pursuit of the championship. 

Lindenwood has 26 athletes scheduled to compete in Fresno, including two-time indoor sprint champ Michael Rodgers, who also owns the top time in the NAIA this season in the 100 meters (10.18).  While Rodgers, a junior from St. Louis, has NAIA championship meet experience under his belt, relative newcomers Donald Thomas and James Jenkins are being thrust into the spotlight to enhance the Lions' run at a championship ring.  Thomas, a mere freshman from the Bahamas, will be gunning for the NAIA record in the high jump, which currently stands at 7' 3".  Thomas has cleared an NAIA-leading mark this season of 7' 4" in a meet in his home stadium just 2 weeks ago.  A sophomore, Jenkins owns an NAIA-best leap this season of 51' 7 ¾" in the triple jump.

Virginia Intermont, located amongst the hills surrounding Bristol, Va., has no peer in the distance races.  The Cobras have won the past two NAIA cross country championships, dominating the field in both instances, and the corps of those title teams is still intact.  The question isn't really whether or not Cobras will win the distance races in Fresno, but rather will they break NAIA records.  The trio of Fernando Cabada, Elkana Chesorir and David Cheromei, all of whom have Olympic potential, have been the backbone of the VIC distance program, and together with Corey Duquette and Mudasar Haidat they form a contingent that could rack up well over 80 points in 7 distance events, including the 4x800-meter relay.  If they can reach that plateau, the Cobras will be primed to capture their first-ever NAIA track & field championship, a title that has narrowly eluded them that past two years on both the indoor and outdoor circuit.

In the history of NAIA track & field, no school has dominated the sport like Azusa Pacific University (Calif.).  The Cougars have won 17 NAIA championships since 1983, including 13 in the outdoor meet.  However, it's been fours years since Azusa Pacific has claimed a team title, and in the meantime Dickinson State and Lindenwood have moved to the forefront.  This meet, though, could be the one in which Azusa Pacific returns as the king of NAIA track.

Past Cougar teams excelled in the throws, jumps and decathlon.  This team, however, is as balanced as any championship contender could be.  Azusa Pacific is looking to score in half of the 24 events staged, and could eclipse the century figure by the meet's end.  The Ramirez brothers, Tim and Tony, who between them have grabbed some 20 All-American honors, carry the Cougar torch on the track.  Over the past two weeks, Tim has qualified for the U.S. Championships in both the 800- and 1500-meters, breaking school records in the process.  Tony is the reigning NAIA indoor 400-meter champion.  He'll anchor Azusa Pacific's NAIA-leading 4x400-meter relay.  While Tim will by-pass the 800 and run only the open 1500, he'll lead perhaps the best collection of half-milers in school history to anchor a 4x800-meter relay that is headed for a electric showdown with Virginia Intermont's 4x800.  The NAIA record will be on the line in this second meeting of the two star-studded relays.  At the Penn Relays in April, Azusa Pacific edged VIC, registering a school-record and NAIA-leading 7:23.85.

The duel in the 4x800-meter relay is just one of several intriguing match-ups slated for this weekend.  In the pole vault, NAIA champions Robbie Johnston of Southern Oregon University and Jason Scott of Cedarville University (Ohio) lock horns once again.  As a mere freshman in 2004, Scott won the title with a vault of 16' 7½."  Last year, however, Johnston, who was also a freshman, snagged the crown from Scott, beating him by a foot.  Johnston did not travel to the NAIA indoors this past March as Scott reclaimed the crown with vault of more than 17 feet.  As the vaulters renew their rivalry in Fresno, only three-quarters of an inch separate them from their respective 2006 season bests.

Doane senior Will Moman is looking to become the first hammer thrower in 24 years to successfully defend his title, but he'll be under constant pressure from Michael Gusbeth of Missouri Baptist.  Both men have thrown 207+ feet this year.

In the decathlon, only 16 points separate the NAIA's top two performers, Azusa Pacific's Brian Bernard and University of British Columbia's Aaron Dixon.  Interestingly, the NAIA Outdoor Championships will be their second head-to-head competition this season.  In April, Bernard edged Dixon, 6,730 to 6,714, in a decathlon in Azusa, Calif.

Yhann Plummer, a senior out of Southern University-New Orleans (La.), is listed among the top times in the NAIA this season in the 100-, 200- and 400-meters, and is penciled to run all three races.  He'll battle Rodgers for the short sprint crowns and take on Azusa Pacific's Matt Parish in the quarter.  A year ago, he was second in the 200 and third in the 100.  He did not attempt the 400.

More than 580 athletes are entered in the NAIA Men's Outdoor Track & Field Championships.