Where Your Dreams Become Reality
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Where Your Dreams Become Reality |
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Tactical Middle Distance Race on Final Day of NCAA Champs By Mike Scott (c) 2006 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved SACRAMENTO, Calif. (10-Jun-2006) -- First-time winners used late-race speed to win the middle distance events during the fourth day of the NCAA Division I Track & Field Championships at Sacramento State University's Hornet Stadium. Washington's Ryan Brown (800m) and Amy Lia (1500m), Oregon's Rebekah Nobel (800m), South Alabama's Vincent Rono (1500m), and BYU's Josh McAdams (steeple) took top honors in the distance events on the exciting final day of competition. The women's 800 was Saturday's first track final, contested at noon under clear skies and mild 75-degree temperatures. Minnesota's Heather Dorniden and Tennessee's Leslie Treherne took the pace out, passing 200 in 27.2 and 400 in 59.89 with the pack bunched tightly together. As the pack rounded the turn, Dorniden and Treherne continued to lead while Oregon frosh Rebekah Noble moved up on the outside. Dorniden continued to lead as the pack reached 600 in 1:30.8. Coming into the home stretch, Noble made her move and edged her was past Dorniden to win in 2:02.07, a personal best time. "My plan was to place myself comfortably early," said Noble. "At 350 to go, I was supposed to look around and see where everyone is. With 150 to go, I was supposed to move up. And I was supposed to be going flat out the last 50. The race pretty much worked out that way." Dorniden held on for second in 2:03.02, just a step ahead of Cal's Alysia Johnson who finished in 2:03.04. The men's 800 field also went out quickly, with Oral Roberts' Prince Mumba and Southern Cal's Duane Soloman taking the pack through 200 in 24.1 and 400 in 51.61. Baylor's Wil Fitts was running third on the inside, while Washington's Ryan Brown was tucked into the middle of the pack. Brown and Iona's Tim Bayley started to move up through the pack on the backstretch with Mumba still leading at 600 in 1:18.5. Bayley and Brown entered the homestretch together, with Brown pulling away to win in 1:46.29. "I felt good after coming through the 400 in 51," said Brown. "I felt good at 300 to go so I picked it up. It was just the Iona guy and I on the corner. I was confident that no one could outsprint me." Bayley claimed second in 1:46.64, with Mumba third in 1:46.80. The women's 1500m lined up approximately 90 minutes after the conclusion of the men's 800. Idaho's Dee Olson led Villanova's Marina Muncan, Michigan's Nicole Edwards, and the rest of the field through an opening 68.93 lap. The order remained the same as the Olson towed the pack through the 800 in 2:19.11. Muncan led the field through the bell (passed in 3:10.7) with Olson and Edwards on her shoulder. Muncan started to stretch the field out as she passed 1200 in 3:27.91 and looked like she was going to run away with it. However Washington's Amy Lia --who finished last in this event a year ago-- swung all the way out into lane three on the homestretch and smoked by on the outside to win in 4:14.63. "I was injured last year and surprised to even qualify for last year's NCAA championships," said Lia. "I figured if I could stay healthy, I'd have to shot to win it. I told myself before the race to start moving at 400, then really go at 250. So at 250 I went and committed. I just sprinted as fast as I could." Muncan held on for second, finishing in 4:15.27 just ahead of Florida State's Natalie Hughes in 4:15.72. The men's 1500 field went out looking like the pack was on a Sunday morning long run for the first 300. Arizona's Robert Cheseret --last year's 10,000 champion and 7th in last night's 5000 final-- sped to the front at 350 to up the pace and bring the field through 400 in 64.06. Chesert continued to lead the tightly-bunched field through 800 in 2:06.09, with Arkansas' Adam Perkins and South Alabama's Vincent Rono on his shoulder. Florida State's Tim Lancashire surged strongly into the lead with 600 to go, stringing the pack out as he hit the bell in 2:48. Lancashire opened some daylight between him and his pursuers on the backstretch and appeared to be running away with the race. However, the field started to close rapidly on the final stretch and gradually edged closer and closer, with Rono moving past in lane two to steal the race in the final meters. "I was surprised by how fast the last 600 were," said Rono. "It was sooner than I expected. I knew I had a strong kick, but thought I might have waited too long. With 150 to go I decided to give it all I could." Rono crossed the line in 3:44.07, with Lancashire in 3:44.20. Providence's Max Smith and Texas' Leonel Manzano -- the defending champ -- finished 3-4 in 3:44.42 and 3:44.59 respectively. With the re-arrangement of the events due to television, the men's steeple was the final individual event contested at the 2006 championships. Arizona State's Aaron Aguayo, Alabama's Augustus Maiyo, and Florida State's Andrew Lemoncello led the steeple for the first 4 laps (passed in 4:42.3 for an inside water jump). During the fifth lap, defending champ Mircea Bogdan surged into the lead for a lap, then Aguayo retook the lead during the sixth lap and started to open a small margin over the pack. BYU's Josh McAdams made a big move over the final 200 to catch, then pass Aguayo coming into the homestretch. McAdams started to pull away down the stretch, but stumbled over the final barrier (leading to a loud "Ohhh" from the crowd). The 26-year old BYU senior recovered and maintained his lead to the finish, recording a 8:34.10. "I felt confident in my kick because I was ranked eighth in the 1500," said McAdams. "I'm a steepler but if I had a second event it would be the 1500, so the race played into my hands." Bogdan passed Aguayo on the final stretch to claim second, with the UTEP senior timed in 8:35.35 and Aguayo in 8:35.78. Florida State won the men's competition with 67 points. LSU, led by Xavier Carter's four wins (100, 400, 4x100, 4x400), the most since Jesse Owens won four individual events in both 1935 and 1936, finished second with 51. On the women's side Auburn won their first ever NCAA team title, totalling 57 points to runner-up Southern Cal's 38.5
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Cross Country Spikes 10% off Injured?
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