SAN ANGELO, Texas — The Angelo State University men’s and women’s track and field teams dominated in the Lone Star Conference Outdoor Championships, both placing second overall.
The men’s team is now ranked third nationally while the women are ranked seventh. Head coach Tom Dibbern said several athletes have qualified for the NCAA Division II Outdoor Championships and he’s currently preparing them.
“The message we send to kids over at a conference is control what you can control," Dibbern said. "It’s a three day meet and there's a lot of variables, a lot of highs and lows and a lot of stuff you can't and can control. I thought our kids did a really good job of controlling what they can control. That's why we were pretty successful.”
Junior sprinter Nick Ellisor won the gold medal, running a 47.55 in the 400-meter dash at the LSC Outdoor Championships. This feat automatically qualifies him for the Division II Outdoor Championships. The 400 is no easy race and nick explained how he runs it.
“I get out of the blocks hard, not at 100% or anything like that, but I get out hard and finish hard," Ellisor said. "I’ve been told I’m a strong finisher and that’s my strong point of the race. I don’t try to do anything different week to week, I just try to get better at the same routine I do every week.”
Sunday marked the last chance qualifier meet for athletes hoping to advance to the Division II Outdoor Championships. Dibbern is hopeful for those participating in this meet and for the ones who have already qualified.
"When you get to the national meet, It's your top end kids that are trying to win a championship," Dibbern said. "It becomes more important to be on, mistakes can't happen. I mean, you've got to be as good as you can be at that point because you have fewer opportunities to do damage."
Dibbern said everyone has to sharpen up and stay healthy from here on out.