May 24, 2006

By Gary Pine, APU Sports Information

FRESNO, Calif. - In the history of NAIA track & field, it was the most dominating performance in nearly 50 years.  Not since Occidental tallied a whopping 148.5 points to win the 1957 men's outdoor championship by more than 100 points had a team been so crushing in its championship effort as was Missouri Baptist this past winter when the Spartans literally ran away from the field to capture the NAIA women's indoor track & field crown.  Missouri Baptist shattered Occidental's scoring standard with a hefty 172 points, leaving its closest competitor, Simon Fraser, 80 points away in its rearview mirror.

Those same Spartans are back for more, heading to Fresno, Calif., this week for the NAIA Outdoor Track & Field National Championships, seeking to become only the seventh school ever to sweep the NAIA women's indoor and outdoor championships in the same year.  While duplicating their showcase performance at the indoor championships may be a bit much to ask, there is no doubting that the Spartans are the team to beat when host institution Fresno Pacific Univeristy (Calif.) opens the 3-day meet Thursday (May 25).

Past NAIA champions typically have hung their hat, so to speak, on a couple of specialty events.  Not so with Missouri Baptist.  The Spartans are strong across the board, expecting to score in 15 of the 24 event finals.  MBU will have a noticeable presence in the sprints, distances, relays, hurdles, jumps, throws and even the heptathlon. 

In a team this strong, it is difficult to pick a single standout, but if forced to, the Spartans' star is sprinter Nickeisha Anderson, a sophomore out of Hanover, Jamaica.  A year ago, she was the ultimate sprint champion, becoming the first NAIA athlete ever to sweep the 100-, 200-, and 400-meter titles at the outdoor championships in Louisville, and she is the favorite to do so again this year.

In bringing to Fresno 16 athletes, 14 of which are underclassmen, Missouri Baptist has the firepower to score above 100 points.  The Spartans could produce enough of a cushion to allow for unforeseen missteps along the way and still garner the crown. 

Defending outdoor champion and 3-time reigning NAIA cross country champ Simon Fraser University (B.C.) will be waiting in wings to snag its third national championship if Missouri Baptist falters.  At the indoor meet this past March, SFU tallied 92 points which in just about any other year would have been good enough to win a title. 

With their cross country forte, led by NAIA champ Julia Howard, the Clan is immensely strong in the distances, where Simon Fraser could score nearly 60 points. That kind of running performance combined with NAIA champion Ruky Abdulai, who has her eyes set on becoming the first athlete ever to win the NAIA high and long jump titles, and it is clear to see that Simon Fraser has the arsenal to defend it crown.

Traditional powers Oklahoma Baptist University, Azusa Pacific University (Calif.), Lindenwood University (Mo.) and Doane College (Neb.) figure to battle one another for a spot on the trophy podium by Saturday evening.

Along with the aforementioned trio, 9 individual champions in all return to defend their crowns in Fresno.  Heading the list is Azusa Pacific's Vivian Chukwuemeka, who has won an NAIA record 13 individual titles during her illustrious career.  She heads into this week's championship meet with the NAIA's top marks this season in the shot put, hammer throw and discus throw and she is gunning for the NAIA record in all 3 events.  She has also qualified for her first javelin competition, having just picked up the event less than 2 months ago.

Simon Fraser's Rebecca Johnstone is chasing the ghosts of past Clans as she attempts to successfully defend her 800 crown.  Her greatest threat for the title comes from teammate Julia Howard, who won back-to-back half-mile titles in 2003 and 2004.  In addition, Johnstone is well within range of the NAIA 800 record, which was set 20 years at 2:03.89 by former Clan Brit McRoberts.

The Johnstone-Howard battle is just one of several intriguing head-to-head competitions on tap for this championships weekend.  In the 100-meter hurdles, youth will be served where no less than five freshmen are expected to battle for the crown.  Oklahoma Baptist's Nickiesha Wilson got the advantage in the first match-up, edging Missouri Baptist's Nadina Marsh, and Nikkita Holder along with Lindenwood's Latoya Heath to win the 60-meter high hurdles at the NAIA Indoor Meet in March. 

Marsh has another clash on her hands in the heptathlon where she'll meet up with Doane's Katie Kosmos.  At the indoor championship meet nearly three months ago, both athletes broke the NAIA record in the pentathlon with Marsh edging Kosmos by just 94 points.  Now as they head into this week's heptathlon competition, Kosmos is the favorite after becoming the first athlete in Doane history to eclipse the 5,000-point barrier, scoring 5,076 at the Drake Relays.

More than 470 females will compete this week in Fresno, which becomes the third California city to host the NAIA Outdoor Track & Field Championship Meet and the first in 12 years.

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