Final Results
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. --
Ramon Sparks won the national championship in the triple jump Saturday at the NCAA Division II indoor championship meet to lead a solid second-day effort for the Wildcats, who finished third in the team standings.
Adams State -- which only scored in six of the 16 events in the meet -- won the national championship with 89 points, followed by St. Augustine's in second iwth 72 points. ACU was third with 52 points, followed by Lincoln (Mo.) with 37 points and Central Missouri with 36 points.
On the women's side, Lincoln won its second straight indoor championship with 56 points, while Ashland and Grand Valley State tied for second with 47 points. Adams State -- which served as the meet host at the Albuquerque Convention Center -- was fourth with 38 points and Nebraska-Omaha was fifth with 35 points. ACU wrapped up a rebuilding year with 13 points en route to a 13th-place finish.
Sparks took the lead on his first jump of the competition (51, 3 inches) and never trailed en route to winning his first indoor national championship. Sparks will now turn his attention to the outdoor season where he is the reigning outdoor national champion in the triple jump.
On his fifth jump of the competition, Sparks threw out his eventual winning mark of 52-3.25 before fouling on his last jump of the competition. Kiara Jones of Pittsburg State then jumped 51-8.50 on his last jump, but it wasn't enough to beat Sparks and he settled for a second-place finish.
Desmond Jackson helped ACU's cause with a pair of third-place finishes in the 50 meters (6.75 seconds for six points) and the 200 meters (21.39 for six points).
Amos Sang was a strong third in the 5000 meters (14:31.43), breaking up the Adams State distance juggernaut.
Adams scored 65 of his 89 total points in two events as it took each of the first five places in the mile for 33 points and then went first and second and fourth through seventh for 32 points in the 5000 meters. Adams State's only other points on Saturday came with a third-place finish (six points) in the 800 meters.
ACU, meanwhile, scored in seven events on Saturday to help the Wildcats move into third place.
Defending indoor national champion
Andrew McDowell was nipped at the wire by Jeremy Jackson of Pittsburg State, who won the national title in the 60 hurdles with a time of 7.83 seconds to McDowell's 7.85.
Landon Ehlers was third in the pole vault in 16-7.25 for six points and
James Hardin contributed two points with a seventh-place finish in the heptathlon (4,989 points).
On the women's side, only two Wildcats scored on Saturday as
Wanda Hutson finished fourth in the 60 meters (7.45 seconds for five points) and
Jessica Withrow finished sixth in the pentathlon (3,677 points for three points.
Withrow also finished ninth in the high jump (5-6.00) and
Jessica Blair was 13th in the triple jump (38-2.25).
