One
for the record books
2005 NCAA Track and Field Championships
will go down as one of best ever
Sacramento
fans are accustomed to seeing track and field at its
highest level, from the assault on the men's 100-meter
dash world record at the 1968 AAU Championships to
Michael Johnson's historic double at the 1995 U.S.
Outdoor Championships to successive U.S. Olympic Trials
in 2000 and 2004.
But for sustained excitement, it's hard to imagine
anything topping Saturday's finish to the 2005 NCAA
Division I Men's and Women's Outdoor Track and Field
Championships. In the storied 84-year history of the
NCAA meet, there have been few, if any, nights like
it.
Three collegiate records were set within the span
of two and a half hours at Hornet Stadium, culminating
with LSU's win in the men's 1,600-meter relay. But
records tell only part of the story. It seemed as
if each race was trying to top the previous race,
until there were no more races to run.
Plenty of notable stuff happened in the three preceding
days. Tyson Gay of Arkansas ran the fastest time in
the world this year, 19.93 seconds, in the preliminaries
of the 200-meter dash on Thursday. Darold Williamson
of Baylor ran a world leader in the preliminaries
of the 400 meters on Friday night, clocking 44.27.
Arkansas won the men's 4x100 relay final on Friday
in a stadium-record 38.49, outdueling Florida. Arkansas
and Florida would finish in the same position in the
final team standings.
But the four-day meet kicked into a higher gear on
Saturday. It's hard to imagine where to start, though
the record-setting performances are as good a place
as any.
At
6:10 p.m., Monique Henderson, a senior from UCLA seeking
her first NCAA title, got the evening off to a record-setting
start when she won the women's 400-meter dash in 50.10.
Henderson's time broke a 16-year-old collegiate and
meet record.
In
2000, Henderson captivated Sacramento fans at the
U.S. Olympic Trials by qualifying for the 400 finals
at the age of 17. Judging from the reaction she received
Saturday, a good percentage of the 10,200 fans in
attendance remembered her, and was glad to see her
college career end on such a high note.
At
6:45 p.m., LSU senior Bennie Brazell appeared headed
for aN upset win over Florida sophomore Kerron Clement
in the men's 400 hurdles. Clement led midway through
the final turn but began chopping his steps over the
hurdles.
Brazell,
a 2000 U.S. Olympian, stormed past his Southeastern
Conference rival in the homestretch, taking a four-meter
lead over the 10th and final hurdle.
But
Clement corraled Brazell with one of the most stunning
run-ins ever seen, winning in a collegiate-record
47.56. Brazell's second-place time of 47.67 was also
faster than the previous collegiate and meet record
of 47.85, set by Kevin Young of UCLA in 1988. Young
set the still-standing world record of 46.78 in 1992.
If Clement irons out his step problems, he's a good
bet to supplant Young as the world record-holder.
And who's to say Brazell won't be there right beside
him at the finish?
At
8:35 p.m., a third collegiate record was set in the
men's 4 x 400 relay. The LSU foursome of Reginald
Darder, Kelly Willie, Brazell and Xavier Carter won
in 2 minutes, 59.59 seconds, topping the previous
NCAA record of 2:59.91, set by UCLA in 1988. Arizona
State and Oregon also broke 3:01, with sixth place
going to Baylor in 3:01.83. Top to bottom, it was
the highest-quality 4 x 400 relay race ever run outside
the Olympics or World Championships.
"We
established it in our heads that we would take this
to the limit," said Xavier Carter, the sensational
freshman who ran the anchor leg for LSU.
In
the final event of the meet, the women's 4 x 400 relay,
Texas clinched the women's team title by winning another
thriller in 3:27.13. South Carolina (3:27.22) and
Tennessee (3:27.46) crossed the finish line an instant
later. Texas won the team title with 55 points.
The
fourth NCAA meet record of the night was set by UCLA
senior Candice Baucham in the women's triple jump.
Bauchum upset the pre-meet favorite, Gisele Oliveira
of Clemson, with a jump of 46 feet, 2 inches.
There
were plenty of great events of the non-record variety,
too. Arkansas essentially clinched the men's team
title when Wallace Spearmon and Gay finished first
and third in the men's 200. Spearmon won in 19.91,
supplanting his teammate's two-day-old world leader.
Carter was second in 20.08, with Gay third in 20.14.
In
the men's 5,000 meters, Stanford teammates Ryan Hall
and Ian Dobson ran a gutsy race, their fast pace dulling
the kicks of the co-favorites, Robert Cheseret of
Arizona and Nick Willis of Michigan. Hall finished
first in a stadium-record 13:22.32, followed closely
by Dobson in 13:22.54. Willis, the NCAA indoor champion
in the mile, was third in a school-record13:27.54.
Cheseret, the winner of Thursday night's 10,000, was
sixth.
Hall's
winning time was the fastest run at the NCAA meet
since 1979.
The
men's 1,500 featured a startling eight runners under
3:39. Leonel Manzano, an unheralded Texas freshman
who arrived in Sacramento with a lifetime best of
3:42.84, won in 3:37.13, the equivalent of a 3:53
mile.
The
defending champion in the men's 800, Texas Tech senior
Jonathan Johnson, set the pace Saturday through 600
meters. Johnson faded in the stretch to sixth as Nebraska
sophomore Dmitrijs Milkevics won in 1:44.74, breaking
Johnson's stadium record of 1:44.77, set at the 2004
Olympic Trials.
Florida
A&M sophomore Kevin Hicks was second Saturday
in 1:44.94, the second-fastest time by an American
this season. (Milkevics is from Latvia.)
Williamson
won the 400 in 44.51, claiming the first NCAA individual
title of his four-year collegiate career. In the 4
x 400 relay, Williamson anchored Baylor to a sixth-place
finish with a 43.5 split.
There
was much talk following the 2004 Olympic Games in
Athens about the early defections of several top collegians
to the professional ranks. Jeremy Wariner, the 2004
Olympic champion in the 400, skipped his final two
seasons of eligiblility to sign a pro contract. Lauryn
Williams of Miami, the Olympic silver medalist in
the 100, also bypassed her final college season.
On
Saturday night, Spearmon announced that he would be
leaving Arkansas with two years of college eligiblity
remaining. Clement is leaving Florida early as well.
That means they won't be returning to Hornet Stadium
in 2006 and 2007, when the NCAA meet continues its
three-year run in Sacramento.
But
collegiate track has an almost bottomless reservoir
of talent. Next year's meet, set for June 7-10, 2006,
should have a strong cast of experienced characters.
Sprinter-jumper Marshevet Hooker, the top contributor
to Texas's team title, is a sophomore. Walter Dix,
the men's 100-meter champion from Florida State, is
a freshman. So are Carter, the LSU sprinter, and Manzano,
the Texas miler, and Galen Rupp, the Oregon distance
runner.
Hicks,
the Florida A&M half-miler, is a sophomore. Micheal
Tinsley, the Jackson State intermediate hurdler who
finished third behind Clement and Brazell in Sacramento,
is another sophomore with great promise. The second-
and third-place finishers in the women's 200, Shalonda
Solomon of South Carolina and Cleo Tyson of Tennessee,
are freshmen.
College
track seems regenerates itself quite nicely.
Records
set at the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field
Championships
June
8-11, Sacramento, Calif.
MEN
800-meter
run
Stadium
record:
1:44.74,
Dmitrijs Milkevics (Nebraska), June 11, 2005.
Previous
record: 1:44.77, Jonathan Johnson (Texas Tech), July
12, 2004.
400-meter
intermediate hurdles
Collegiate
record, meet record, stadium record:
47.56,
Kerron Clement (Florida), June 11, 2005.
Previous
collegiate record: 47.85, Kevin Young (UCLA), Eugene,
Ore., June 3, 1988.
Previous
NCAA meet record: 47.85, Young.
Previous
stadium record: 47.62, Angelo Taylor (Nike), July
22, 2000.
5,000-meter
run
Stadium
record:
13:22.32,
Ryan Hall (Stanford), June 11, 2005.
Previous
record: 13:27.06, Adam Goucher (Fila), July 21, 2000.
400-meter
relay
Stadium
record:
38.49,
Arkansas (Michael Grant, Wallace Spearmon, Tyson Gay,
Omar Brown), June 10, 2005.
Previous
stadium record: 38.65, LSU, (Robert Parham, Bennie
Brazell, Pete Coley, Kelly Willie), June 14, 2003.
1,600-meter
relay
Collegiate,
NCAA meet, stadium record:
2:59.59,
LSU (Reginald Dardar, Bennie Brazell, Xavier Carter,
Kelly Willie), June 11, 2005.
Previous
collegiate record: 2:59.91, UCLA (Steve Lewis, Kevin
Young, Danny Everett, Henry Thomas), Eugene, Ore.,
June 4, 1988.
Previous
NCAA meet record: 2:59.91, UCLA.
Previous
stadium record: 3:01.69, Texas Tech (Johnny Jacob,
Michael Mathieu, Terry Beard, Andrae Williams), June
9, 2005.
WOMEN
400-meter
dash
Collegiate,
NCAA meet record:
50.10,
Monique Henderson (UCLA), June 11, 2005.
Previous
collegiate record: 50.18, Pauline Davis (Alabama),
Provo, Utah, June 3, 1989.
Previous
NCAA meet record: 50.18, Davis.
Triple
jump
NCAA
meet record:
46
feet, 2 inches, Candice Baucham (UCLA), June 11, 2005.
Previous
record: 46-0.75, Sheila Hudson (Cal), Durham, N.C.,
June 2, 1990.
