COVER STORY
Excellence Repeats Itself
? Alabama A&M Women Win Second
National Title: 14th Straight SIACLTitle
At the end of the women's 1,600 meter relay at the
NCAA Women's Division II Track Championship in
Abilene, Texas, Alabama A&M's Taiwo Aladefa held up
a sign in victory which signified two years of brilliance:
Excellence Repeats Itself.
The sign itself merely illuminated their second
straight national championship in one of the closest meets
in history. The Lady Bulldogs led hosts Abilene Christian .
82-80 heading into the final event and needed to finish
ahead of them to clinch the title.
"I went down to give the team a pep talk before the
race," said head coach Joe Henderson, "but they were
already pumped up." r ?
?
This national championship followed a regular sea
son where Alabama A&M won their 14th straight South
em Intercollegiate Athletic Conference title. The SI AC
sent 22 participants to the national competition and 17
earned All-America honors with Henderson winning the
national coach of the year award. However, the success in
track and field is nothing new to the SIAC, who has sent
representatives to the Olympics every year since World
War II.
"Our conference is tough, and we try to go to all the
big meets," Henderson added, "Competing against good
competition week after week helps. We compete against
good people and against one another.**
Of the 17 SIAC representatives to earn All-America
honors during the meet, nine were from Alabama A&M.
Shelly Beckford finished third in the 400 meters and sixth
in the 200. But her powerful final leg of the 1,600, where
she pulled away from the rest of the field, gave the Lady
Bulldogs the championship and helped them set an Elmer
Gray Stadium record with a time of 3:37.94 in spite of
freshman Zina Jones running the first leg of the race for
the first time in her career.
Aladefa, the only member of the team who won't
return to normal next season, was just as impressive. She
finished second in the 100 meter hurdles, fourth in the
100 meter sprint, and helped the 400 meter relay team to a
second-place finish.
Meanwhile, the star of the meet was Olga Robinson.
Robinson accounted for 22.5 of Alabama A&M's 96
points. She finished second in the 200 meters and ran the
second leg of the 400 meter relay. Robinson also was the
third leg of the triumphant 1,600 meter relay unit, and she
won the 400 meter title.
This two-day meet tests more than just the skill of the
competitors. Stamina is the biggest test of all, and with
only nine members on the team it could have been the
Lady Bulldogs' demise. However, Henderson's training
methods paid off, and the ability of his athletes to com
pete effectively in multiple events was the difference in
winning the championship.
"When you tell someone they are a specialist in one
particular event, it hurts them," Henderson said. "We tell
Olga Robinson
our kids to maximize what they have."
"We can run at top speed for 20 or 30 minutes. So
when we get to meets like this where there are short
breaks between events and people have to run back to
back, it's not that difficult because we train for it. Our
practice intensity helps."
Since 1979 Henderson's teams have won every SI AC
championship, and with all except one returning next year
they will be the team to beat once again. Jearl Miles, Dan*
nette Young and Gloria Morgan are past Olympians, and
with the eyes of the world focusing on the conference's
home city of Atlanta in 1996 and the USA/Mobil Indoor
Championships beginning a 10-year run next March
inside the Georgia Dome, Henderson is using it as a moti?
vator for his team to stay focused.
"I've had good people who have gotten better every
year," Henderson said. "If you've got good people and
maintain them academically, it helps out a lot."
"Everything is in Atlanta for the next three or four
years. With everything in our backyard, we try to use it as
motivation."
If the Lady Bulldogs remain motivated, it could mean
trouble for the rest of the country.
? By MARK GRAY
Shelly Beckford
Taiwo A lade fa