MCMURRY MEN'S TRACK AND FIELD WINS NATIONAL TITLE, GIVES ASC TWO THIS YEAR!
5/24/2008 7:02:26 PM
Official Championships Website (w/results)
OSHKOSH, Wis. - It came down to the 4X400-meter race. As the last entrant into the NCAA Division III Outdoor Championships with the 14th-best time in the nation, McMurry's distance relay team needed to place at least fourth to be able to take home the national title. The quartet did one better, placed third, and gave McMurry University its only national championship of any sport in school history as the McMurry men won the 2008 Outdoor Track & Field Championship.
It was the second NCAA team national title for the American Southwest Conference. McMurry joined the Howard Payne women's basketball team, who won the crown this season.
Behind the legs of junior Hann Ollison, McMurry finished with 35 points to edge SUNY-Cortland (33 pts.) for national crown. Ollison had placed second in the long jump Thursday, won the individual national title in the 400-meter race with the fastest time in the nation Saturday, helped the 4X100-meter relay team win its second consecutive national title, and then joined John Mikalik and freshmen Bryce Williamson & Terry Smith to place third in the 4X400-meter race.
“We made history today!” said head coach Barbara Crousen. “It was the most emotional feeling in the world. As soon as the mile relay was over with, hot tears hit my eyes, we had the points figured out, they knew what they had to do and watching it happen was so amazing.”
Other than Bert Green's eighth place finish in the 100-meter race, Ollison the Colorado City native, had a hand in 34 of McMurry's 35 points and finished as the meet's high-point athlete. He set J.J. Keller Field records in the 400-meter race (46.40) and in the 4X100-meter relay (40.47) preliminaries Thursday.
“When I recruited Hann, I knew he was good,” Crousen said. “But he’s more than exceeded my expectations of what I thought he could be. He’s the kind of athlete that he does everything you tell him to do. So watching him grow and gain that confidence over the three years has been awesome, and the strength he had this year was just fun to watch. I’m glad to have him and even more glad to have him another year.”
Based upon entrants, McMurry was favored to win the men’s national title and would look to ride the sprint relay team as momentum from the title in 2007. The same four runners who took home the gold a year ago at J.J. Keller Field did it again Saturday but this time with much more at stake. Senior Chris Kelley joined Mikalik, Green and Ollison for the tandem’s second-straight relay title with a time of 40.57 seconds.
Green narrowly made the finals in the 100-meter race with the ninth-best time, however, the senior was able to jump to eighth place in the finals with a time of 10.97 seconds to earn all-America status and provide a valuable point to the team score.
Ollison’s 46.50 second-time in the 400-meter race earlier in the season was the best in Division III in 2008 coming into the weekend’s national meet. The junior ran a 47.62 in the preliminaries Friday to qualify for the finals and then shaved over a second off his time in the finals to pass his personal best and crossed the line at 46.40 seconds to set a J.J. Keller Field record. That time was also the 10th best finish in NCAA Division III Outdoor Track & Field history.
The distance relay tandem of Ollison, Mikalik, Smith and Williamson was the last taken in the field of 14 relay teams for the national meet. However, Thursday in the preliminaries, McMurry posted the sixth best time to advance to the finals. Saturday, McMurry had 29 points and stood third going into the event, which was the last of the meet.
The four responded by running a time of 3:15.29 to place third and ensure McMurry and Crousen the first national title in school history.
“I knew if our first two legs could get us close, I knew that Mikalik and Hann could do it. If we could just get Hann the stick with any type of chance I knew they could do it,” said Crousen. “He told one of our other coaches, ‘If I’m close I’m not going to let these guys down and we’re going to win this national title.”
Ollison is now a 12-time track and field all-American at McMurry. The junior sprinter has 11 all-America awards in outdoor track and one indoor all-America award after winning the national title in the 400-meter race at the 2008 Indoor National Championships. He is now tied with former women’s track star Telitha Belcher, who also had 12 all-America honors while at McMurry, for the most all-America honors in school history.
Green wrapped up his two-sport career at McMurry as a seven-time all-American in McMurry’s track and field program. He won all seven national awards in just three seasons with the team. The 33-year old former Major League Baseball player (St. Louis Cardinals, Texas Rangers) also played football at McMurry where he was an all-conference honoree all three seasons.
Mikalik now has six all-America awards, Kelley wrapped up his career with two while Williamson and Smith earned their first all-America awards with the 4X400-meter relay team.
“It was great knowing everyone was a contributor,” Crousen said. “I know it was thrill for them and a thrill for McMurry University.”
McMurry’s track teams return to Abilene Sunday afternoon and the meet concludes all sporting events for the school in the 2007-2008 school year.
-Courtesy McMurry University Sports Information Department