The first day of the 2010 NCAA Division II National Track and Field Championships wrapped up with two ASU athletes on the medals stand claiming All-America status.

Seniors Aisha "Ice" Adams and Chrystal Ruiz ended what was a grueling day for both of them by placing third and sixth in the long jump, gaining nine points for the team and All-America status for themselves.

"It's probably a little disappointing for Ice," said head coach James Reid.  "She really wanted to win the long jump, but she has had a heavy day today.  Of course, Chrystal was really good, and any time you get people on the stand, then that is good."

Both Adams and Ruiz competed in four heptathlon events today as well as the long jump and the 400-meter hurdles preliminaries.  Adams also ran the first leg of the 4x100 relay team that qualified for the finals with a season-best time of 46.17 seconds.  The relay team also includes Celethia Byrd, Sara Hooker and Makayla Myers.

"I feel good because we set a personal record and made it to the finals," Myers said.  "Hopefully we'll do way better in the finals and pull a national championship off.  At the end on Saturday night, hopefully we will be national champions."

"We'll be in lane one," Reid said.  "That is all we wanted to do, stick around and score points."

The Rams 4x100 relay team also stuck around for the finals by winning its heat in a season-best 40.22 seconds.  The team is made up of James Howell, Ryan Adkins, Brian Holik and Nick Smith.

"Ryan and I were feeling a lot better than at the conference meet," Smith said.  "James and Brian, they ran very, very good, so we just put it together and ran a great time, a personal record."

"40.63 was our fastest time this year at the conference meet," Reid said.  "Coach Dibbern works with the relays and he told me last night that the guys were ready to run fast.  And, he was right."

Byrd kept the good times rolling for ASU in the 400-meter dash preliminaries, setting a new school record and running the fastest time in NCAA D-II this year as she easily posted the best preliminary time of 53.14.

"It feels great," Byrd said.  "I always knew I could do it.  It was just a matter of putting it in my head that I could do it, and then running my race and nobody else's."

Senior Kris Crockett also ran the 400-meters for the Rambelles, and though she did not qualify for the finals, she did accomplish what she set out to do.

"We knew I wasn't going to do much in the quarter," Crockett said.  "But, we wanted me to run it as a good warm-up for the 400-hurdles."

In the men's 400-meter dash, senior James Howell set a personal record and new ASU record of 46.00 seconds, qualifying him for Saturday's finals.  After coming out fast, he staggered a bit at the end of the race and sprawled on the track, but said he is just fine for the rest of the meet.

"It's definitely a blessing," Howell said.  "I came out here with the mindset to run a 45.40 before this weekend is over, and that hasn't changed.  I feel great to go to the finals and to get a race under my belt on this track so I know how to tackle the finals."

However, the 400-meters ended in heartbreak for freshman Isidro Garcia, who missed qualifying for the finals in his first national meet by just .29 of a second.

"I don't set low goals," Garcia said.  "I set my goals high and try to achieve them.  It's disappointing that I didn't make it into the finals, and I have three more years, but there is no guarantee that I'm going to make it back.  So, I'm going to give it my all next year and see how that goes."

An even closer call also ended in heartbreak for Holik as he ran a personal best 52.30 in the 400-meter hurdles, missing qualifying for the final by just .18 of a second.  But for the Rambelles, it was business as usual as both Adams and Ruiz won their respective heats in the 400-hurdles and advanced to Saturday's final.  Ruiz ran a personal best of 58.79 while Adams coasted in at 58.94.

During Ruiz's race, assistant coach Gary Gabriel was rooting her on quietly from the bleachers as it seemed he was almost talking her through the race like a pit boss to a racecar driver.

"Control, control," he said.  "Just get a seat at the final table and we can fight for the neckbone later."

Prior to Adams' heat, Gabriel was also urging her on, albeit almost to himself.

"Time to lay the smack down, Ice," he said.  "Send them a message.  Show them it's not going to be easy."

At the end of the day, the Rambelles had two All-Americans and had qualified athletes in every event they had entered.  They also stood in fourth place in the overall standings with just three events in the books.  Despite a couple of near misses, it was also a good day for the Rams.

"From a team standpoint, I think we are okay," Reid said.  "The girls are sitting fourth right now, but we've still got a lot of scoring opportunities.  It depends on how, mentally, we can recuperate and get ready to go tomorrow.  The big start is going to be the heptathlon.  If those two girls can finish off the heptathlon strong, it will make a good surge for us going into the running prelims tomorrow evening."

Fun Facts

• Aisha Adams is the top ranked 400-meter hurdles runner in NCAA D-II, but she really doesn't enjoy the event.

"It hurts once you get done and it hurts to train for the 400 hurdles," she said.  "If it didn't hurt, I would like it.  But it hurts, so I don't like it."

• Adams and Celethia Byrd make up a formidable one-two punch for the Rambelles. But, it was actually Byrd who got Adams to make the move to ASU from Barton County Community College in Kansas where they had also been teammates.

"When I came on my visit to ASU, I really liked the school," Byrd said.  "When I got there, I wanted Ice to come with me, and that is how she got here."