| Watch over 50 IAAF Events Live and On-Demand at WCSN.com |
Arizona State captures NCAA DI team titles
The Arizona State University men's and women's track and field teams won
the 2008 NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships in impressive fashion
over the weekend at the Randal Tyson Track Center in Fayetteville, Ark.
The victory was the first indoor team crown for the men while the women
successfully defended the title they earned last year.
The ASU men's squad, who also won the 1977 NCAA Outdoor Championships,
earned their second team crown while the women captured their third
national title in a row as the were victorious last year outdoors. The
win was the seventh in a row for the women as they have also won two
MPSF Indoor Championships, three NCAA crowns and one NCAA West Region
(outdoor) title dating back to last year.
In the team standings, the ASU women scored 51 points to out-distance
runner-up LSU (43 points) for the second year in a row while Michigan
(39), Texas (35) and Stanford (32) rounded out the Top 5. On the men's
side, the Sun Devils scored 44 points to edge Florida State (41 points)
while Texas (34), LSU (33) and Tennessee (26) rounded out the Top 5 in
the men's standings. The women were helped along by Jacquelyn Johnson's
third national heptathlon title indoors while the men saw Kyle Alcorn
set the
pace with his national title at 3,000m.
Johnson became the first three-time winner of the indoor pentathlon and
just the ninth woman in NCAA history to win the same event three times
in a career. Johnson scored 4,496 points to not only win for the third
year in a row, but also break both the meet and collegiate records.
Johnson, who nearly broke the collegiate pentathlon 800m record of
2:13.40 (she ran 2:13.45), needed to win by four seconds or more over
Michigan's Bettie Wade and easily took the race and the overall title.
Johnson's score broke the previous NCAA record mark of 4,439 points by
Austra Skuyte of Kansas State in 2002, and bettered the previous meet
record of 4,412 points scored by Hyleas Fountain of Georgia in 2004, the
year she defeated Johnson and the only time Johnson has not won the
national title in the multi-events.
ASU was led in the men's competition by Kyle Alcorn, who stepped onto
the track ranked 14th of the 16 competitors and hung with the pack for
much of the race. Midway through, the senior took the lead and held it
for a while before several runners passed him. But, with two laps
remaining, Alcorn surged to the lead and held on for the win to tie the
team score and set up a showdown in the 4x400m relay. The Sun Devil
quartet of Jimmie Gordon, Darryl Elston,
Justin Kremer and Joel Phillip needed to finish only ahead of FSU to secure the team title. They
finished the race in 3:06.34 to place third overall and take the team
title as FSU finished sixth in the race.
Adams State wins first ever NCAA DII team crown
Using 19 All-America performances while scoring points in all but one
running event, the Adams State College Grizzlies women's team won the
school's first ever track and field title at the NCAA Division II level
Saturday at Minnesota State University-Mankato's Myers Field House.
The indoor crown is ASC's first track and field title for either gender
in either season since 1985 when the then Indians won an NAIA indoor
crown. Adams State tallied 55 points for the win, followed by St.
Augustine's (2nd-48 points), Lincoln (3rd-38.33 points), Southern
Illinois-Edwardsville (4th-38 points) and Ashland (5th-37 points).
The Grizzly men also claimed a trophy with a third place finish (39
points), led by senior Nick Lara's (Alamosa, Colo.) third straight
800-meter title, his seventh overall career national crown. St.
Augustine's easily defended the men's title and collected its 11th
national championship overall in totaling 68 points. They were followed
by Abilene Christian (2nd-49 points); Grand Valley State (4th-37 points)
and Ashland (5th-35 points).
Adams State won just one event– Friday's distance medley
relay– during the two-day meet but racked up a ton of other
point-scoring finishes. Finishing as high as second numerous times over
the last several years, the Grizzlies finally clinched the elusive
women's team title when junior Heather Wood (Los Alamos, N.M.) and
senior Tanya Gaurmer (Westminster, Colo.) finished seventh and eighth in
the 5,000 meters giving the Grizzlies an 11-point cushion over St.
Augustine's (N.C.), which had won the indoor title in every odd year
since 2001.
Wisconsin-La Crosse, Illinois Wesleyan win DIII team titles
The Wisconsin-La Crosse men's team won its 15th Indoor National
Championship and the Illinois Wesleyan women's team captured its first
team title on Saturday at the 2008 NCAA III Indoor Track & Field
Championships at the Ohio Northern University Sports Center in Ada,
Ohio.
The Eagles used wins by junior Bobby Riley in the shot put (16.94
meters/55 feet, 7 inches) and the 4x400-meter relay to capture its
seventh indoor team title in eight years with 43 points.
Illinois Wesleyan senior Rachel Anderson captured her third straight
individual 400-meter dash title and overcame a 10-meter defecit on the
anchor leg of the 4x400-meter relay to give the Titans the victory and
the overall team title with 30 points.
Hamilton sophomore Peter Kosgei used powerful kicks to win the 1-mile
run and 800-meter run and earn Men's Track Athlete of the Meet.
Bates senior Noah Gauthier threw a distance of 19.24m/63-1.50 to win the
men's 35-pound weight throw by nearly a foot on Friday to earn Men's
Field Athlete of the Meet.
Anderson won the 400 in an ONU Sports Center record and DIII season-best
time of 55.66. She teamed with Ali McCoy, Mackenzie Clemens and Brooke
Halcott to win the 4x400 in 3:52.21.Anderson's performances earned her
Women's Track Athlete of the Meet.
For more information on the 2008 NCAA Indoor Track & Field
Championships, visit: NCAA.com.
Know someone else who's interested in running and triathlon?
