Championship!
Track & Field sweeps Indoor Mid-Con competition
By Matt McLeod

Manhattan, Kan.- The Oral Roberts University indoor track and field teams dominated from start to finish in the 2002 Mid-Continent Conference Indoor Championships and left Manhattan, Kan., with a pair of conference crowns.

The ORU men finished with a final team score of 214 points, 85 points ahead of second place Southern Utah (129). The Golden Eagles had been tabbed to finish second behind the Thunderbirds in the pre-season poll. The ORU women also ran away with their conference title, beating second place Southern Utah 207-150. In the women's pre-season poll, the two schools were tied for first place.

The ORU indoor track and field teams have won back-to-back Mid-Con men's titles, four in the last five years and three straight Mid-Con women's titles.

The Golden Eagle men were led by Omar Brooks and Shaun Schaefer. Brooks, the 2001 Mid-Con Cross Country Athlete of the Year, won the men's mile run (4:19.88), took second in the 3000-meter run (8:24.88) and third in the 5000-meter run (15:03.74.). Schaefer repeated as Mid-Con Champion in the pole vault, clearing a height of 4.86 meters.

The ORU men also took first place with Franz Petzold winning in the 60-meter hurdles (8.11) and Wayne Scott in the 400-meter dash (48.83).

ORU also took second place in six different men's events, including a pair by Tyson Smith in the pole vault and the long jump. And in what was perhaps the most impressive event finish of the day; the men took six of the top seven places in the finals of the 60-meter dash.

In the women's side of the action, the ORU 4x400 meter relay team of Natalee Campbell, Kimberly Smalling, Amber Canidy and Marsha Dawkins established a new all-time record in the Mid-Continent Conference. The team took first place with a time of 3:53.53. The ORU distance medley team (12:11.65) also brought home a first place finish.

ORU's Brandy Anderson won her fourth consecutive Mid-Con high jump title (1.70m), completing a four-year domination in the event, while Golden Eagle teammate Laura Arthun took her third straight pole vault title (3.66m).

The Golden Eagles took the top four places in both the triple jump and the top three spots in the 200-meter dash. In both events, ORU was led by Natalee Campbell, who ran the 200-meter dash in 25.38, and finished the triple jump with a distance of 11.76 meters. Smalling also had a first place performance for ORU, winning the 60-meter dash (7.78).

Finals Schedule