ALBUQUERQUE, NM. - The Ottawa University Arizona men's and women's track and field team traveled to the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Invitational at the University of New Mexico.
 
"After the initial adjustment to having to compete against the likes of UCLA and USC and a dozen world-class athletes, I felt our athletes did a great job staying focused and continuing to learn out to run on the banks of an indoor track," said Head Coach Wade Watkins.
 
With a huge field of some of the best NCAA Division I (USC, UCLA, UTEP) and Division II (APU, Concordia) teams out West, OUAZ did well in the opening day of competition.
 
The men's long jump saw last weeks NCCAA athlete of the week Jordan Minor continue to jump qualifying marks. Jordan reached over 6.20m on all his attempts and this week he was joined by Shamar Moreland who launched his distance to a level that competed with the NCAA Division I teams. Moreland, jumped 7.08m on his final attempt and gave himself the #2 rank on the NCCAA National list and 12th position overall in the event, which was won by the Olympic qualifier Marquis Dendy of Nike with a jump of 8.13m.
 
Moreland and Minor also ran the 200m, as part of a workout, where Moreland would also qualify for NCCAA Nationals with a relaxed 23.02.
 
Monnie Spear-Rogers, would also run the 200m, the longer of the two events she competed in this weekend. Monnie lowered her national qualifying mark to 26.45 after nearly an hour-long wait.
 
The other events OUAZ competed in on Friday night were the 400m and High Jump.  In the 400 meters, Darius Allen and Abe Hernandez qualified for NCCAA Nationals with times of 51.97 and 51.99 respectively.  Carlos Nelson came back from a No-Height in the high jump to record a time of 58.12 in the 400 meters.
 
Day two started off with Monnie Spears-Rogers lowering her NCCAA National qualifying standard to 8.02 in a field that was dominated by the likes of USC and UCLA.
 
Ed Thomas, who had been hovering around the National qualifying standard in the 60-meter hurdles, punched his ticket to Ohio with a 9.11 time over the 42-inch hurdles, just dipping under the standard by .07 of a second.
 
The mid-distance specialist competed in the 400 meters. An exciting event indoors, the 400m consists of 2 full laps around the banked oval.
 
Darius Allen and Abe Hernandez both hit qualifying standards, running 51.97 and 51.99 respectively. Jordan Minor got some training in, running the event in 58 seconds.
 
The 800m, doubling the distance and the pain, saw Colton Malone start his season off with a respectful 2:08. Rica Alaniz ran the 800m in 2:11 and Ramon Suarez rounded out OUAZ's representation with a 2:14.
 
As day two came to an end, OUAZ fielded a 4x400 meter team with  60m hurdler Ed Thomas running the first leg in 56 seconds, followed by Shamar Moreland passing on and moving us into 3rd with a 51.4 split. Shamar handed off to Darius Allen, who blistered the track, running 50.6 and catching another runner. Lastly, anchoring the relay team was Abe Hernandez, who had a battle on his hand, and at the tape, was out-leaned after running 51.2. OUAZ finished with a time of 3:33.35, ranking themselves at 11th in the current NCCAA standings.

--SPIRIT--
 
 
About Ottawa University
Founded in 1865, Ottawa University prepares professional and liberal arts graduates for lifetimes of personal significance, vocational fulfillment and service to God and humanity within a Christ-inspired community of grace and open inquiry. Ottawa University is a comprehensive, not-for-profit educational institution serving 3,000 students through its residential campuses in Ottawa, Kan., and Surprise, Ariz., and adult campuses in Overland Park, Kan.; Phoenix, Queen Creek and Surprise, Ariz.; Brookfield, Wis.; Jeffersonville, Ind.; as well as online. For more information, visit www.ottawa.edu. 
 
For more information about OUAZ athletics, visit http://www.ottawa.edu/ouaz/athletics. Follow OUAZ athletics on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/OUAZSpiritAthletics/ and on Twitter twitter.com/OUAZSpirit.