Posted: June 11, 2005

Athletics: NCAA Championships Day 3 - Steeple Champions Crowned

From David Monti

© 2005 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved RaceResultsWeekly.com

By Mike Scott

SACRAMENTO,Calif. (10-Jun) -- Texas-El Paso's Mircea Bogdan and Butler's Vicki Mitchell appeared to have used tactics from the same playbook to win their respective 3000m steeplechase events at the 2005 NCAA Division I Men's & Women's Outdoor Track & Field Championships, hosted by California State University - Sacramento in Hornet Stadium.

The men's steeplechase opened in much the same manner as the preliminary race, with Cal Poly's Ben Bruce setting the early pace for a tightly bunched field, passing two laps in 2:13.7 and 3 laps in 3:22.6; Ohio State's Aaron Fisher, NC State's Andy Smith, and Florida State's Andrew Lemoncello remained right on Bruce, while Arkansas's Peter Kosgei -- 3rd in last nights 10,000-meter race -- and UTEP's Patrick Mutai and Mircea Bogdan trailed back in the pack.

Lemoncello briefly surged into the lead coming out of the water jump on the fourth lap, but UTEP's Mutai seized the lead and strung the pack out. Smith, Kosgei, Lemoncello, and Bogdan trailed Mutai through four laps in 4:31.9, 5 laps in 5:37.5, and 6 laps in 6:45.5. Kosgei seized the lead just before the waterjump on the 7th lap, with Smith then taking the lead on the backstretch. Smith started to pull away with only Bogdan remaining close. Bogdan caught Smith going over the final waterjump and pulled away over the straightaway to win in 8:27.29. Kosgei caught and passed Smith in the final meters to add a silver to the bronze he captured the night before in the 10,000, finishing in 8:29.13 to Smith's 8:29.66. Lemoncello claimed 4th in 8:30.12, while Mutai finished 5th in 8:31.93 and Bruce 6th in 8:33.81.

In the women's steeple, Brigham Young's Rena Williams-Chesser went right to the front, with North Carolina's Cassie King and Illinios Cassie Hunt running right on her shoulder and the field packed right behind including collegiate leader Vicki Mitchell. Williams-Chesser took the pack through splits of 74.0, 2:32.9, 3:53.2, 5:16.3, and 6:39.5 with essentially no change in the running order. Hunt made a bid for the win with about two laps remaining, vaulting into the lead and passing six laps in 7:57.6 with only Mitchell still in contention. Mitchell took over the lead on the final lap and pulled away from Hunt to win comfortably in 9:54.32, while Hunt also broke the 10:00 barrier clocking 9:59.82. Williams-Chesser held on for 3rd in 10:02.21, while Duke's Liz Wort finish 4th in 10:05.39, Tennessee-Chattanooga's Shannon Wommack claimed 5th in 10:07.14, and Providence's Fiona Crombie passing several runners on the final straight to claim 6th in 10:08.36.

Competition concludes Saturday at the 2005 NCAA Track & Field Championships with finals in 23 events (11 men's, 12 women's), including the 800-meters, 1500-meters, and 5000-meters. Arkansas enters the final day as the favorite for the men's team titles while Texas will have to hold off Tennessee for the women's team crown.