NCAA Division II Track : Defending Champions Favored to Win Again

Abilene Christian of Texas and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo are favored to win fourth consecutive titles in the men’s and women’s divisions, respectively, of this week’s NCAA Division II outdoor track and field meet at Cal State Los Angeles.

Competition began Monday in the women’s heptathlon and men’s decathlon, which will end today. Preliminaries for track and field are set for Wednesday and Thursday, with finals Friday and Saturday.

The meet is being held on the school’s wide-laned Jesse Owens track, built in 1982 as a training facility for last summer’s Olympic Games.

About 900 athletes from 200 colleges are expected to compete in the meet, being held in Southern California for only the third time since its inception in 1963.

Normally, the mention of Division II brings thoughts of an off-Broadway production, but the scheduled lineup includes several legitimate world-class athletes in both track and field events.

Among them are pole vaulter Dale Jenkins, sprinter Gregory Meghoo, and triple-jumper Jose Salazar, all of Abilene Christian.

Jenkins could challenge Joe Dial’s new American record of 19-2 1/2 in the vault, Meghoo was a silver medalist on Jamaica’s 400-meter relay team last summer in the Olympics, and Salazar was a bronze medalist in the 1983 Pan American Games.

Of all the athletes entered, Abilene Christian’s Jenkins is most likely to come away with a national record, according to John Tansley, meet director and track coach at Cal State L.A.

“Even though Jenkins is favored, there are plenty of athletes capable of setting records this week,” Tansley said. “It’s a first-rate Olympic facility and a very fast track.”

William Motti of Mount St. Mary’s in Maryland leads the decathlon after the first day with 4,321 points, a pace that is 121 points ahead of his collegiate record of 8,278.

After four events, Natalie Day of Cal State Sacramento is the leader in the women’s heptathlon with 3,210 points, followed by Janet Williams of Springfield College in Massachusetts with 3,174, and Debbie Larsen of Cal Poly Pomona with 3,164.