6/19/2009

The Patriots Track and Field teams had a very successful year in 2009.  Coming off a Top 25 NCAA National Ranking in cross-country, the Patriots won their third consecutive National Championship in the Women's Distance Medley Relay.  The National Championship performance was a school record time (12:25) and set the facility record at Cedarville University's Athletic Complex.

Competing in the NCCAA Indoor Championships for the Patriots were Freshmen Skylor Alford, Ashley Gonzales, Linet Kibet, Nicole Thiessen, Jordan Koser, John Millsap, Zach Morgan, and Spencer Stephens, Sophomores Ryan Clift, Kurt Lindsey, Patrick Mirani, Tabbitha Ashford, Callie Freeling, Megan Liss, Rachel Oncken, Juniors Cody Vondermehden, Ashley Alford, Lacey Morrison, Hannah Steffan, and Senior John Vann.

Competing in the NCCAA Outdoor Championships for the Patriot Men were Clift, Joel Hunt, Koser, Lindsey, Millsap, Mirani, Morgan, Felix Rodriguez, Stephens, and Vondermehden.  Clift led the men with his 7th place finish in the 800 meters and 7th place finish in the men's 4 x 400m relay.  Competing for the women were Ashley Alford, Skylor Alford, Ashford, Kibet, Liss, Morrison, Oncken, Steffan, and Thiessen. Scoring points for the women were Ashley Alford in the 800 meters and 4 x 800 meters, Skylor Alford in the 4 x 800 meters, Tabbitha Ashford in the 4 x 800 meters, Oncken in the 10,000 meters, and Steffan in the 4 x 800 meters, the 800 meters, the 1500 meters, and the 5000 meters.  Steffan and Kibet also qualified for and competed at the Texas Relays and Penn Relays during the Spring season.

The Patriots set school records in the 800 meters all the way to the 10,000 meters.  Steffan set personal records in the 800 meters, the 1500 meters, the 3000 meters, and the 5000 meters, as well as setting a school record in the Distance Medley Relay and 4 x 800 Meter Relay.  She also qualified for NCAA Division II Nationals.

"We had a great Indoor Championship with Ashley Alford and Kurt Lindsey winning All-American honors and the ladies winning the National Championship in the DMR," Head Coach Jacob Phillips said.

"It was a very successful year for us," commented Phillips.  "Everyone had a competitive spirit and we made improvements upon every distance this year.  Everyone will return in 2009-2010, so we are hoping to continue working hard and see the same type of improvements next season."

5/6/2009

The Dallas Baptist University Patriot Track and Field teams participated in the NCCAA Outdoor Track and Field National Championships this past weekend at Indiana Wesleyan University in Marion, Indiana.  Leading the Patriots once again, as she has all Spring, was Junior Hannah Steffan.

Steffan added two more NCCAA All-American honors to her resume with a 3rd place team finish in the Women's 4x800 meter relay and a 3rd place finish in the Women's 1500 meters. Steffan's time of 4:37.95 was just two seconds from the National Champion. Steffan also finished 7th in the 800 meters to help with the team point total.

Helping Steffan in the 4x800 meter relay was Freshman Skylor Alford, Sophomore Tabbitha Ashford, and Junior Ashley Alford. The ladies ran to a school record of 9:23.28, which was also a facility record, but unfortunately two other schools were also under that time.

Sophomore Rachel Oncken and Junior Ashley Alford also scored individually on the weekend.  Oncken placed 7th in the Women's 10,000 meters with a personal best time of 39:14.04.  She also ran to a personal best of 18:54.33 in the 5000 meters but did not score in the top eight.  Alford, who was an All-American Indoors, placed 6th overall in the Women's 800 meters with a time of 2:19.21.  The All-American was also a vital part to the Lady Patriots Mile Relay squad that set a school record with their time of 4:03.22.  The Lady Patriots won the preliminaries of the Mile Relay but were unable to score in the top eight in the finals.

At the end of the day, the Lady Patriots finished 10th out of 15 in the team standings.

Leading the Patriot Men at the National Championships was Sophomore Ryan Clift. Clift placed 7th overall in the Men's 800 meters with a personal best of 1:57.13. Clift also led the Men's Mile Relay team that finished 7th overall.

"We came in with very high expectations after having such a great Cross Country and Indoor Season, and I think it's fair to say that some of our men and women were disappointed with their finishes. But if you look at how well we did compared to year, it's good to know that we've raised the bar and are disappointed with finishes that in years past would have been school records," commented Head Coach Jacob Phillips. "Collegiate Track and Field is very tough, you have to be mentally prepared to compete every weekend, as well as physically prepared.  This year we had a lot of hiccups in training with sickness and small injuries, but we managed school records in just about every distance event and we scored points in events that we have not in the past.  These young men and women should be very proud of themselves and they should be very excited about 2009-2010!"

Junior Hannah Steffan is the lone NCAA Division II qualifier and will conclude her season at the NCAA Division II National Championships May 21-23, 2009.

4/24/2009

Junior Hannah Steffan broke her own school record in the Women's 5000 meters Thursday night at the Penn Relays.  Her time of 16:56.50 is 9 seconds faster than her previous best and school record of 17:05.50.  The time is under the automatic qualifying standard of 17:05.00.  Steffan's time will rank her fifth on the NCAA National List.

Steffan is the first NCAA Qualifier in the history of the Patriots Track and Field program.  She will compete in the Women’s 5000 meters at the NCAA DII National Championships hosted by Angelo State University on May 21, 2009. Currently Steffan is ranked in the 5000 meters and 1500 meters.

"It was a gutsy race," said Head Coach Jacob Phillips, "she's done what we have asked, she's put in the work, and she's found a passion for racing. She's going to be in the mix at DII Nationals."

The Patriots and Steffan will be back in action May 1 and 2 at the NCCAA Outdoor National Championships.

4/20/2009

Junior distance runner Hannah Steffan has become accustomed to winning races this year and did so once again on Saturday night at the University of Texas Twilight Track and Field Meet. Steffan, who participated in the Women's Invitational 1500 meters took the lead from the gun and never looked back as she crossed the line in 4:36.97, 5 seconds in front of the second place finisher from Rice University.

Steffan performance was not the only impressive one for the Lady Patriots on Saturday as Sophomore Tabbitha Ashford raced in the same Invitational 1500 meters and finished 8th with a 4 second personal best of 4:49.34. Freshman Linet Kibet and Sophomore Megan Liss raced in the earlier section of the 1500 meters and both ran seasonal bests of 5:00.90 and 5:04.94. In the earlier section Kibet was 7th, Sophomore Rachel Oncken was 8th and Liss was 9th.

NCCAA All-American Ashley Alford placed 8th in the Women's 800 meters as she tied her personal best with a 2:18 finish.

The men had their best day of the season with an onslaught of personal bests.  Leading the way was Junior Felix Rodriguez who placed 5th in the Men's 3000 meters with a personal best time of 8:43.23. In the Men's 800 meters, Sophomore Ryan Clift ran to a personal best of 1:57.18, while teammate Cody Vondermehden set a PR with his time of 2:00.48.

In the Men's 1500 meters, Freshmen Jordan Koser and Zach Morgan set personal bests with their finishes of 4:13.77 and 4:14.03.

The Patriots will take a down week before heading to the NCCAA Outdoor National Championships in Marion, Indiana on May 1, 2009.

4/9/2009

On a day with near perfect conditions, the Dallas Baptist University Patriots Track and Field teams took charge at the Lamar University Ty Terrell Relays.  Competing against an all NCAA Division I field the Patriots brought home three individual titles and 10 personal bests.

Leading the Patriots, as she has done all season was Junior standout Hannah Steffan. Steffan swept the flat distance events by winning the individual titles in the 800 meters, the 1500 meters, and the 3000 meters.  Her time of 2:17.41 is the fastest 800m time recorded under Head Coach Jacob Phillips and is a 2-second personal best for Steffan.  Following her closely in 2nd place was Junior teammate Ashley Alford who ran 2:18.53, which is also a 2-second personal best. Finishing in 6th place in the 800 meters was Sophomore Megan Liss.

Steffan's next title came in the 1500 meters in which she set a 3 second personal best and beat the field by 8 seconds with her time of 4:35.26.  The time is an NCAA provisional qualifying mark.  Steffan is also provisionally qualified in the 5000 meters and is currently ranked 7th in the country.

Following Steffan were a slew of Patriots, starting with Sophomore Tabbitha Ashford who took 5 seconds off of her previous best with a 4:53.03 and 3rd place finish. Sophomore Rachel Oncken set a personal best and finished 6th with a time of 4:58.59. Freshman Linet Kibet placed 8th with a personal best time of 5:01.91.

The final victory of the day for the Patriots was in the women's 3000 meters where Steffan ran her second fastest time in the event with a 10:06.39, defeating the field by 27 seconds.

The great results didn't end there, as the Women's Mile Relay squad of Freshman Nicole Thiessen, Sophomore Tabbitha Ashford, Freshman Skylor Alford, and Junior Ashley Alford ran to a school record of 4:05.61 which is 9 seconds faster than they've run all year, finishing 7th overall.

Leading the men was Sophomore Ryan Clift. Clift set a personal best in the 800 meters with his time of 1:57.85, for a 3rd place overall finish.  Clift was just 1 second from winning the individual title.  Teammate Junior Cody Vondermehden followed Clift in with a 2:04.44 for an Outdoor Season's best.

The Patriot men were well represented in the 1500m with Junior Felix Rodriguez leading the charge and setting a personal best with his finish of 4:07.20. Following in Rodriguez and setting personal bests were Freshmen John Millsap in 4:15.45 and Jordan Koser in 4:21.89.

"It was a very good day today for us," commented Head Coach Jacob Phillips, "we really didn't expect big things from this meet as we're really now focused on the bigger meets ahead, so this was a very good surprise. Hannah took control of every race she ran, which is something we really wanted to practice, and Ashley Alford is finally beginning to break through in the 800 meters.  I'm very excited to see what we can do in the next few weeks as the focus is really on the end of the year."

The Patriots will travel to Austin, Texas on April 18 to compete in the University of Texas Twilight Track and Field Meet.

4/2/2009

Junior distance standout Hannah Steffan continued her run through the Dallas Baptist University record books on Wednesday night at the Texas Relays in Austin, Texas, with her 17:05.50 timing in the Women's 5000 meters.  Steffan, competing in her third Texas Relays, led the women's field through a very fast-paced race before being outlasted by only 3 other runners.  Her time of 17:05.50 is a personal best by 34 seconds and is .50 seconds from automatically qualifying for the NCAA DII National Championships in May.  The time is a provisional qualifier and currently has her at number 6 on the NCAA DII national list.

"She ran a gutsy race," said Head Coach Phillips, "She's come a very long way in the three years she's been here at DBU and she's going to keep getting faster.  We've not seen the best she can do."

Steffan, along with Lacey Morrison, Skylor Alford, and Ashley Alford will compete on Saturday in the Women's Distance Medley Relay at the Texas Relays in Austin, Texas.

3/28/2009

Competing against regional rivals Tarleton State and Angelo State, as well as Division I foes UTA, SMU, Oklahoma State, Oklahoma, and Tulsa, the Dallas Baptist University Patriot Track and Field teams faced not only stiff competition, but a stiff wind on an unusually cold and windy day for the Spring Track Season at the UTA Bobby Lane Track and Field Invitational.

Leading the Patriots were Junior distance standouts Hannah Steffan and Lacey Morrison.  Steffan opened the day for the Patriots with a personal best and school record in the 1500 meters.  Her time of 4:38.33 is a best by 12 seconds and led her to a 2nd place finish.

"We were just using the 1500m as a tune up for the Texas Relays coming up on Wednesday and figured that we had nothing to lose," said head coach Phillips, "if the girls went out fast, Hannah would follow, if it felt slow, she would lead.  About 800 meters in she took over the lead and held it until about 5 meters to the finish.  It was a great job on a very cold and windy day," Head Coach Jacob Phillips said.

In the only other top 5 finish on the day for the Patriots, Lacey Morrison placed 3rd in the 5000 meters with a personal best of 18:13.  Racing her way to 3rd place with a strong finishing kick, Morrison knocked five seconds off of her personal best.

Also enduring the challenging conditions and running well for the Patriot Women was a quintet of 800 meter runners, led by Junior Ashley Alford. Alford placed 9th, just missing out on scoring in the team results with her personal best of 2:20.02.  Following Alford was Sophomore Tabbitha Ashford in 2:24.74, Freshman Skylor Alford in 2:27.70, Freshman Linet Kibet in 2:28.54, and Sophomore Rachel Oncken in 2:29.29.  Skylor Alford also doubled and ran a personal best 5:04.46 in the women's 1500 meters.

"I thought the ladies came out and competed very well today.  It is easy in these conditions to just go through the motions but we set almost 10 personal bests today, including a school record, so these ladies definitely did not just go through the motions, they came to compete.  All of our training is geared to have us running our best in May, so to be setting personal bests now, when the training load is high, is a very good sign," said Phillips.

Leading the Men on the day was Junior Felix Rodriguez and Freshman John Millsap. Rodriguez began the day running just off his personal best in the 1500 meters in 4:09.09.  Finishing behind Rodriguez was Sophomore Kurt Lindsey in a personal best of 4:14.69.

"Both Felix and Kurt are 5000 meter runners, so when we step down to a 1500 meter race, it's purely to work on their speed and to get them practicing running hard.  We achieved that today.  Both have been nursing small injuries, so this is just a step in the right direction," said Phillips.

Millsap rebounded from his performance at Baylor last weekend with a 15:38.89 in the men's 5000 meters. The time is Millsap's second fastest and is just 9 seconds off of his personal best, which he set at the NCCAA Indoor National Championships a few weeks ago.  Freshman teammate Zach Morgan set a personal best with his 16:27.21 effort.

Also competing well were middle distance runners Junior Cody Vondermehden and Freshman Jordan Koser. Vondermehden set an Outdoor personal best in the 800 meters with his 2:05.07, while Koser set a personal best in the 1500 meters with a time of 4:24.46.

"The guys followed the girls lead and really came out to compete.  All week we talked about throwing times out and just worrying about racing hard, finishing hard, and focusing throughout the race, whatever distance it might be.  I thought we did a much better job than we have been doing.  These guys will race again in two weeks and I know that they're ready to compete now."

Hannah Steffan, Linet Kibet, and the Women's DMR squad will compete in the Texas Relays beginning on April 1, 2009, in Austin, Texas, while the rest of the team will compete next at the Lamar University Ty-Terrell Relays in Beaumont, Texas, on April 11, 2009.

3/23/2009

Junior Hannah Steffan led the Lady Patriots once again as she placed first in the Women's 3000 meters this past weekend at the Dr Pepper Invitational hosted by Baylor University in Waco, Texas.  Steffan set a school record finishing in a time of 10:01.47 just hours after setting a personal best in the Women's 800 meter race. Her new personal best time of 2:19.91 in the 800 meters was good enough for 6th place overall.

In addition, competing and placing in the top 10 on the day was Junior Ashley Alford and Freshman Skylor Alford in the Women’s 800 meters.  Ashley Alford raced to a season best time of 2:22.52 for 7th place, while sister Skylor finished in 9th place in a season best time of 2:24.96. Both ladies qualified for the NCCAA Outdoor National Championships with their performances.

In the Women's 1500 meters, Sophomore Tabbitha Ashford and Freshman Linet Kibet placed in the top 10 with Ashford taking 5th overall in 4:58.76 and Kibet finishing in 10th in a time of 5:09.45.

Leading the men on the day with season best times was Junior Felix Rodriguez and Sophomore Ryan Clift.  Rodriguez's time of 4:08.22 in the 1500 meters was also a personal best, while Clift recorded a season best time in the 800 meters in 1:59.05.

The Patriots will return to action on March 28, 2009, when they compete at the UTA-Bobby Lane Invitational in Arlington, Texas, hosted by the University of Texas at Arlington.

3/6/2009

The Dallas Baptist University Patriot Track and Field teams kicked off their 2009 Outdoor Track and Field Season on a very windy day at the Tarleton State University Track and Field Invitational.  Competing against regional competitors such as host Tarleton State, Texas A&M at Commerce, Angelo State, Abilene Christian, and Midwestern State University, the Patriots brought home 14 top 8 finishes including a victory in the Women's 5000 meters.

Junior Hannah Steffan once again led the Patriot charge as she won the Women's 5000 meters in a time of 17:40.32, which was 1:25 faster than the 2nd place finisher.  Steffan took the lead from the beginning and never looked back as she led the Patriots to finishes of 1st, 3rd, 4th, and 5th in the Women’s 5000 meter race.  Freshman Linet Kibet finished 3rd in 19:12.88 which was less than one second in front of teammate Sophomore Tabbitha Ashford who placed fourth. Following right behind in 5th was Sophomore Rachel Oncken in 19:21.12.

Also finishing in the top eight for the women and running in a close group was Juniors Lacey Morrison, Ashley Alford, and Freshman Skylor Alford in the 1500 meters. Morrison who led most of the race finished 3rd in a personal best 5:02.66. Ashley Alford finished right behind Morrison in a personal best of 5:03.91 with a big finishing kick.  Freshman Skylor Alford followed with a 7th place finish in 5:10.29.

Also in another top 8 finish was Sophomore Megan Liss who placed 2nd in the Women's 3000 meter Steeplechase.  It was Liss' debut in the event for 2009.

The Women's 4x400m relay placed 6th overall in a season best, 4:11.22.

"I thought it was a great night for our ladies as we moved our 800 meters girls up to the 1500 and let the long distance girls get in a good quality race before we start to focus on some shorter, faster races," commented Head Coach Jacob Phillips.

The Men had six top eight finishers in events ranging from the Long Jump to the 3000 meter Steeplechase.  Senior John Vann placed 6th in the Long Jump with an Outdoor personal best of 6.04 meters.

Making his debut in the 3000 meter Steeplechase was Freshman John Millsap who placed 2nd overall. Millsap was just one member of the distance squad that had top 8 finishes.  Sophomore Ryan Clift placed 6th overall in the men's 1500 meters in his debut at the distance.  Junior Felix Rodriguez and Sophomore Kurt Lindsey placed 5th and 6th overall in the Men's 5000 meters.

The Men's 4x400m relay squad placed 7th overall to round out the day for the Patriots.

"All in all it was a solid day for our men.  We've definitely got a lot of work to do, but we're healthy and we're heading in the right direction."

The Patriots will be back in action on Saturday, March 21, as they travel to Waco, Texas, to compete in the Baylor University Dr Pepper Invitational.

2/24/2009

The Dallas Baptist University Patriots Women's Distance Medley Relay team won their third consecutive NCCAA National Championship  on Saturday, February 21, 2009 at the NCCAA Indoor National Championships hosted by Cedarville University . The team was comprised of Juniors Lacey Morrison, Ashley Alford, Hannah Steffan and Freshman Skylor Alford.  The Lady Patriots broke the field house record in a time of 12:25.67, defeating Indiana Weslyan University by nine seconds. The time of 12:25.67 just missed qualifying for the NCAA DII National Championships by 1 second.  The time marks a DBU record, and is in the top five all-time in the NCCAA.

The National Championship helped the Patriots finish fifth overall as a team in the total standings just edging out Roberts Weslyan University by 1 point.  The fifth place finish is the highest team finish by a Patriot track and field team at the NCCAA National Championships.

Helping contribute to the record finish were a handful of Patriots.  Steffan who anchored the Women in the DMR win also scored valuable points in the Women's mile and 3000 meter run with fourth place finishes in both events.  Ashley Alford who ran the 400 meter leg of the Women's DMR was an All-American in the 800 meter run.  Alford just missed winning the National Championship in the event by .14 seconds, with her third place finish.

Also scoring very valuable points was the trio of 5000 meter runners Sophomore Tabbitha Ashford, Freshman Linet Kibet, and Sophomore Rachel Oncken, who finished sixth, seventh, and eighth respectively. Ashford also continued her success in the event, finishing sixth in last year's Indoor Championships while Kibet and Oncken made their Indoor debut in the 2009 event.

Finishing the day for the Women and sealing the fifth place team finish was the 4 x 400 meter relay squad of Freshman Nicole Thiessen, Junior Lacey Morrison, Freshman Skylor Alford, and Junior Ashley Alford who finished fifth in a time of 4:17.71.

At the end of the day four women were named NCCAA All-Americans.  (Junior Alford (DMR, 800 meters), Skylor Alford (DMR), Junior Morrison (DMR), and Junior Steffan (DMR)).

The Men also had a great end to the 2009 Indoor Season with Sophomore Kurt Lindsey finishing as an All-American in the Men's 5000 meter run. Lindsey fought his way to a thrid place finish as he posted a personal record by 27 seconds in a time of 15:27.20.  Lindsey just edged out his teammate Freshman John Millsap who finished fourth in the race. Millsap's time of 15:27.50 was just .3 seconds behind that of Lindsey's and was also a 17 second personal best time for Millsap.

The duo of Lindsey and Millsap also scored points in the Men's 4 x 800 meter relay with Sophomore Ryan Clift and Freshman Zach Morgan as they finished sixth overall. Morgan and Clift led the Men's Distance Medley Relay to a fifth place performance in a season best 11:05.48.
Freshman high jumper Spencer Stephens finished the day's scoring with his eighth place finish in the Men's high jump. Stephens set a season's best jump of 5'11" to help the Patriot Men finish eighth overall in the team standings.

"I'm extremely pleased with this 2009 Indoor Season," said Head Coach Jacob Phillips, "we're healthy, we're running better than we ever have, and we're excited about what's to come. The women have improved at every meet this season and to watch Kurt Lindsey and John Millsap fight the way they did in the 5000 meters is going to inspire this men's team to continue working hard and continue believing that they can compete at this level. I'm very proud of every athlete we carried here today; now we just have to keep pressing on into the Outdoor Season."

2/10/2009

The Dallas Baptist University Patriots Track and Field teams traveled to Houston, Texas this past weekend to take part in the University of Houston All-Comers Indoor Track and Field Meet.  Competing against in-conference rival Incarnate Word, as well as The University of Texas, Stephen F. Austin University, and host University of Houston the Patriots got a final tune-up before the NCCAA Indoor National Championships.

Leading the Patriots as she has done all season was Junior Hannah Steffan. Steffan won the Women's Mile and the Women's 3k, both in personal best times.  Steffan's first victory came in the mile where she recorded a time of 5:07.90.  The time is still 3 seconds shy of the NCAA DII provisional qualifying standard.  The next victory came in the 3000 meters where she won in a 24 second personal best of 10:07.48.  The time is the second fastest recorded for a woman in Head Coach Jacob Phillips' tenure with the program.

Sophomore Tabbitha Ashford also recorded a personal best for the 3000 meters as she finished sixth behind Steffan in a time of 10:40.42. Her time will qualify her for the NCCAA Indoor Championships.

Running the mile and qualifying for the NCCAA Indoor Championships on the women's side was Junior Lacey Morrison, Sophomore Rachel Oncken, and Sophomore Megan Liss. Their respective times and placings were ninth in 5:23.39, tenth in 5:24.77, and thirteenth in 5:29.14.

Rounding out the NCCAA qualifiers for the Patriot Women was Nicole Thiessen in the 800 meters with a time of 2:27.38 and Linet Kibet in the 3000 meters with a time of 11:10.93.

Leading the men on the weekend was Sophomore Kurt Lindsey. Lindsey placed sixth in the men's 3000 meters with a personal best time of 8:54.91. Lindsey has now qualified in the 3000 meters and 5000 meters for the NCCAA Indoor Championships.

Also qualifying was Freshman John Millsap with his time of 9:07.27, placing 14th in the 3000 meters. Just as with Lindsey, Millsap has qualified for both the 5000 meters and 3000 meters NCCAA Indoor Championships.

"We competed well this weekend and really set ourselves up for a great National Meet in two weeks," said Head Coach Jacob Phillips, "We're getting healthy, we've gotten faster every meet, and we're excited about competing. I'm definitely looking forward to the Championships in two weeks."

The Patriots will finish their 2009 Indoor Season in two weeks at the NCCAA Indoor National Championships, hosted by Cedarville University.

1/26/2009

Complete Results

Dallas Baptist University Junior Hannah Steffan finished third in both the Women's mile and 3,000 meters to lead the Patriot Track and Field teams at the Texas Tech Indoor Classic on Saturday, January 24, 2009. Steffan's time in the mile, 5:08.12, is just .06 seconds from qualifying her provisionally for the NCAA Division II Indoor National Championships held in Houston, Texas on March 13, 2009. The time was a personal best for Steffan over the distance; she came back later in the day to set another personal best in the 3,000 meters with her third place finish and time of 10:31.12.

Sophomore Tabbitha Ashford also set a personal best in the mile following Steffan with a sixth place performance, finishing in 5:25.60. Steffan and Ashford were a part of 8 top 10 performances turned in by the Patriot Track and Field teams.

In the Women's 800 meters Junior Ashley Alford placed third with a season's best of 2:23.56, while Sophomore Ryan Clift placed 8th in the Men's race with an indoor personal best of 1:59.39. Both athletes qualified for the NCCAA Indoor Championships with their performances.

For the second week in a row standout Felix Rodriguez earned a fourth place finish. This time with his effort in the Men's 5,000 meters in a time of 15:45.51. Finishing out the day in the Women's 3,000 meters was Lacey Morrison in seventh and Rachel Oncken in eighth. Both ladies ran personal bests with times of 11:02.17 and 11:06.16 respectively, qualifying them for the NCCAA Indoor Championships.

At the conclusion of the weekend the Patriots were able to qualify seven more athletes for the NCCAA Indoor National Championships which will be hosted by Cedarville University in Cedarville, Ohio on February 21, 2009.

"We had a very good weekend with improvements across the board. From the field events to the distances we improved and we competed well, and at this point in the season that's all we're really looking for," commented Head Coach Jacob Phillips.

1/19/2009

The Dallas Baptist University Patriots opened their 2009 Indoor Track and Field Season at the Texas Tech Wes Kittley Invitational in Lubbock, Texas, on the weekend of January 16th and 17th with 10 top 10 finishes and eight NCCAA Indoor Championship qualifiers.

"It was a very solid opening weekend for DBU Track and Field," said Head Coach Jacob Phillips.  "We had safe travel, had some solid races, good experience, and lost no one to injury.  This was a great start to what I expect to be an exciting season."

Friday night the reigning NCCAA Indoor Champions in the Women's Distance Medley Relay opened their season with a 3rd place showing.  The quartet of Junior Lacey Morrison, Junior Ashley Alford, Freshman Skylor Alford, and Junior Hannah Steffan ran to a time of 12:55.75, which is only 3 seconds behind the time that won them the National Championship in 2008.  It's the 3rd fastest time ever recorded by the DBU Women.  Following the Women's race, the Men, who finished 3rd at last year's NCCAA Indoor Championships, placed 6th with a time of 11:03.

Finishing the night was the Men's and Women's 5000 meters. Highlighting the weekend for the men was the performance of Freshman John Millsap.  Millsap finished second in the race and was the first collegiate finisher in an Indoor Freshman Record of 15:44.22.  Millsap's time will qualify him for the NCCAA Indoor Championships.  Following Millsap in 4th was teammate Kurt Lindsey who in his first race back from injury ran to an NCCAA Indoor qualifying time of 15:55.32.  Sophomore Tabbitha Ashford placed 4th in an NCCAA qualifying time of 19:35.53 in the women's race.

Saturday saw much more action with Felix Rodriguez leading the Patriots with his 4th place finish in the Men's mile.  Rodriguez ran 4:30.63 in his return from injury to qualify for the NCCAA Indoor Championships.  Other qualifiers and top ten finishers was Sophomore Chris Weatherly who qualified in the Men's 55m Dash with a 6.72, Steffan who placed 7th in the women's 3000m with a time of 10:41.60, Skylor Alford who placed 8th in the 800m with a time of 2:27.19, and Tabbitha Ashford who placed 8th in the mile in 5:37.20.

The Patriots will travel back to Lubbock, Texas this weekend to compete in the Texas Tech Classic Indoor Invitational on Saturday, January 24.