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ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -- The ACU Wildcats will be in action this weekend at the NCAA Division II indoor championship meet where they will be represented by a combined 10 athletes in 15 events.
The meet will get started Friday at 9 a.m. at the Albuquerque Convention Center and will conclude with Saturday's finals.
On the men's side, ACU has finished as the runner-up in the team race four straight years to four-time defending national champion St. Augustine's. The Wildcats and Flying Falcons are the only two teams to win the indoor title since 1987 as they have combined to win 23 straight indoor championships. In that stretch, one or the other has been the national runner-up 16 times.
ACU's task of even finishing in the top three this weekend is made even tougher by the fact that the Wildcats are only sending six men to compete in eight events.
Ramon Sparks will compete in both the triple jump and the long jump and the reigning outdoor national champion in the triple jump enters the meet as the No. 1-ranked triple-jumper in the country.
Defending indoor 60-meter hurdle national champion
Andrew McDowell returns to the indoor championship meet to defend his crown, and he enters the meet ranked No. 2 in the country in the event.
Amos Sang and
Desmond Jackson will compete in a pair of events with Sang running in both the mile and the 5000 meters, while Jackson competes in the 60 meters and the 200 meters. Also in the meet for the Wildcats are pole vaulter
Landon Ehlers and heptathlete
James Hardin.
On the women's side, ACU qualified just four athletes in seven events, making even a top-10 finish a tough task. No one team has dominated the women's team chase since ACU's streak of eight straight championships came to an end in 2001. Since the 2002 season, four teams (St. Augustin's, North Dakota State, Lincoln and Adams State) have all won team championships with St. Augustine's taking four of those championships. Lincoln is the defending national championship, while ACU will try to return to the top five after finishing eighth last year.
Jessica Blair,
Wanda Hutson and
Jessica Withrow will each compete in two events for the Wildcats. Blair will be in both the pole vault and triple jump, while Withrow is in the pentathlon.
Hutson is one of the nation's top sprinters and will compete in both the 60 meters and the 200 meters.
Anais Belledant is the Wildcats' only other female competitor, and she'll be in the mile.
