Live Results
HOUSTON -- A new chapter and the long and illustrious history of the ACU track and field program will begin to unfold Friday when first-year head coach Roosevelt Lofton leads the men's and women's teams into the first indoor meet of the 2010 season.
The Wildcats will competing at the Leonard Hilton Memorial at the Yeoman Field House on the University of Houston campus. The meet will get started with selected field events at 11 a.m. with the running events scheduled to start at 1 p.m.
The meet will feature 14 teams all from either the state of Texas or Louisiana. The participating schools are Abilene Christian, Houston Baptist, Lamar, Louisiana Tech, Nicholls State (women), Prairie View A&M, Rice, Stephen F. Austin, Texas, Texas Southern, Tulane (women), UL-Lafayette and UTSA.
Lofton – a 1984 graduate of Temple – succeeds Don D. Hood, who resigned in June after four seasons as the Wildcats' head coach. Lofton is the 17th head coach in school history, and joins Jon Murray as the only ACU head coaches since 1938 who didn't graduate or compete for the Wildcats. Murray, the head coach in 2000 and from 2002-05, graduated from Harding University.
Prior to Murray becoming the head coach in 2000, the last ACU track and field head coach that didn't graduate from ACU or compete for the Wildcats was A.B. Morris in 1938.
Lofton replaces Don D. Hood, who stepped down in June after four years as the Wildcats' coach for a similar job at Brownwood High School.
The men's team returns 15 athletes from a team that finished third in the nation indoors last year.
Lofton has plenty of talent back from a men's team that finished 43 points behind champion St. Augustine's at the indoor national meet, including
Andrew McDowell, the defending indoor national champion in the 60 meters,
Nick Jones, a two-time national outdoor champion in the discus, and
Ramon Sparks, who won a national outdoor title in the triple jump last year.
The men are seeking their 13th indoor title and first since 2005.
The women, who return 11 athletes, finished eighth in the nation indoors last year. They've won 12 national indoor titles, the last in 1999.
Multi-event standout
Jessica Withrow is back after sitting out last season with an injury. Others to watch are
Wanda Hutson (60, 200), a two-time Olympian for Trinidad and Tabago,
Jessica Sloss (weight throw) and
Jessica Blair (multi events).
After Friday's meet the Wildcats will be back in action next weekend at the Texas Tech Invitational in Lubbock.
