March 9, 1997
Three Black Colleges produced national champions and one other captured All-American honors at the NCAA Division II Indoor Track and Field Championships in Indianapolis, March 7-8.
CIAA powerhouse St. Augustine's finished second in both the men's and women's team competition behind Abilene Christian. The Falcon men scored in six events for a total of 43 points while the women picked up 61 points in seven events to secure their runner-up spots. Abilene Christian easily outdistanced the field scoring 128 points in the men's competition and 76 points in the women's events.
Lincoln (Mo.) University was third in the women's competition on the strength of three first place finishes. North Carolina Central placed 11th with 12 points.
Morehouse College produced national champions in two men's events and finished fifth overall.
St. Aug's Shanaka Walker, a freshman, won the national title in the women's long jump edging teammate Nicole Irving by two inches. Walker's best jump was her sixth and final try of 6.00 meters (19' 8 1/4 ") after fouling on her two previous attempts."I can't believe it", Walker said after winning the event. "I wasn't jumping well coming in and I was just thinking 'Lord help me' on that last jump."
Walker and Irving also finished fourth and fifth in the triple jump to give the Lady Falcons 24 of their 61 total points.
Lincoln's Bev Grant and NC Central's Elisha Marshall provided some excitement in the women's 55 meter dash. After overtaking third place finisher Delloreen Ennis of Abilene Christian, Grant and Marshall battled from 40 meters in. Grant won by 2/1000th of a second. She was timed at 6.903 to Marshall's 6.905.
"I got a bad start. I stumbled a bit out of the blocks, so I had to catch up after that ", Grant said. "I was pretty confident that I had won, but wasn't sure until they flashed the results on the screen."
Grant's teammate Lorraine Graham defended her national title in the 400 meter dash setting a new meet record at 52.22 seconds."I'm very pleased", she said following the awards ceremony. "I am surprised by the time, of course. I didn't know what to expect, but I usually go out very fast and did that today."
Grant and Graham joined Yvonne Andrews and Shelly Berth to capture the 4X400 meter relay, Lincoln's third title of the day.
Morehouse College maximized its participation in the men's competition as Charlie Thomas captured the 55 meter hurdle crown and Gregory Roberts finished first in the high jump setting a meet record in the process.
Thomas recovered from a poor start and pulled even with the leaders by the second hurdle. He took the lead at the third hurdle and held on to the finish. "I have been working on strength with my coach so when I crashed the first hurdle, I was able to run through it", he said. "It altered my step pattern a little, but I feel good about my race. It was a personal best."
Roberts broke a nine year old meet record for the high jump, clearing 7' 3" on his first attempt at that height. He missed all three attempts at 7' 5". "I didn't feel as consistent today as I like", he said. "I had a lot of misses at lower heights. I really wanted 7'5". Maybe it's a mental block."
Women