The day started in disappointing fashion, though, as senior Nicole Cook, the meet favorite and defending NCAA champion, struggled in the 800-meter prelims and was unable to advance to the finals. The Petersburg, Va., native, who strained her right hamstring in practice on Sunday and did not run all week in hopes of being well enough to compete, finished last of eight runners in heat two and wound up 12th overall in 2:08.25.
Cook, who two weeks ago at the Southeastern Conference meet set the collegiate record in the 800m at 2:00.75 on this very track, went out conservatively before rallying on the final lap to briefly take the lead. As she made the final turn toward the finish line, however, the rest of the pack closed in and overtook her 12 meters from the tape as she was unable to find the speed and power necessary to fend them off. Aneita Denton of Arkansas, whom Cook defeated for the SEC title, advances to the finals with the fastest qualifying time at 2:04.70.
“It is amazing that she ran at all today,” Clark said of his 10-time All-American. “She didn’t run a step all week and was just a warrior the whole way out there today. She did the best she could; she just couldn’t open up when she wanted.
“It was a long shot. She warmed up and only did two strides. She said she wanted to give it a shot, and she almost pulled it off. Obviously, it hurts, because it is possibly 10 points, but we’re going to put our heads down and run until the meet is over.”
LSU Men
The LSU men missed securing any points in the first day of action after an unfortunate disqualification of freshman Xavier Carter in the 200 meters. Carter clocked 20.65 to finish seventh in the finals, but was later disqualified for a lane violation.
Arkansas Men
The DMR immediately followed the 200-meter dash. The Arkansas team was comprised of sophomore Adam Perkins, senior Terry Gatson, junior Harun Iman and junior Said Ahmed. The Hogs ran a close race with UCLA and Stanford for a majority of the event.
Perkins led from the get go with a split of 2:55, but handed off to Gatson in second place. Gatson held steady with the leading Stanford runner as he passed the baton to Iman in a time of 46.8. Iman also maintained the second place position with a split of 1:50. Ahmed handled anchor duties and continued to stay of the shoulder of the UCLA competitor. In the final lap the finish came down to defending NCAA champion Michigan and Arkansas. UM’s Nate Brannen gained ground on Ahmed coming off the last turn. It was a desperate dive by Ahmed at the tape that gave Arkansas the victory with a time of 9:30.79, while the Wolverines were very close behind with a 9:30.82.
The Razorbacks didn’t have long to celebrate after they learned a protest regarding the physical finish had been filed by a meet referee. Arkansas put in an appeal, but it was overturned by the NCAA Track and Field Committee. The 10 points Arkansas thought it had earned with the win were taken away and Michigan was given the national crown.
“The University of Arkansas Distance Medley Relay team was disqualified by the referee,” Donna Thomas (Chair of NCAA Division I Men’s and Women’s Track and Field Committee) said. “The referee’s interpretation of the rule (Rule 5-5-3b) was that the young man from Arkansas impeded the progress of the runner from Michigan. Arkansas appealed the ruling and the ruling was upheld. No video tape was used. According to NCAA rules, the use of video is not allowed. As it stands, Michigan is the winner of the Men’s Distance Medley Relay.”
Earlier in the evening Arkansas looked to score big in the 5,000 meters, but fell slightly short of expectations when the Hogs were only able to score five points. Junior Josphat Boit and sophomore Peter Kosgei finished sixth and seventh, respectively. Boit ran a season-best time of 13:47.99, while Kosgei turned in a 13:48.26, allowing the Kenyan duo to pick up their first-career indoor track All-America honors.
In the prelims of the 800 meters senior All-American James Hatch advanced to the finals by virtue of his second-place finish. Hatch staged a smart race and recorded a time of 1:49.27, placing him seventh overall. Before the DMR Ahmed turned in the fastest qualifying time in the prelims of the mile as he held off Michigan’s Nick Willis (4:03.90) to take the tape with a time of 4:03.60.
In the 400 meters Gatson registered a new career-best time of 46.23 as he took the tape in the fourth and final heat. His excellent time placed him second overall and pushed him through to the finals. Gatson’s performance also placed him second on UA’s all-time indoor top 10 list.
Unfortunately, the 60-meter dash was missing junior Tyson Gay. The NCAA 100-meter dash champion was scratched from the event after it was determined that he was not 100 percent recovered from an injured right hamstring.
FL Men and Women
"I thought we did a pretty good job today," Florida men's coach Mike Holloway said. "I was a little disappointed with how we did in the 200m, but we've got four guys competing tomorrow plus our 4x400m relay. Tomorrow, we've just got to come out and take care of Florida and not worry about anybody else."
For the women, senior Candice Scott (Port of Spain, Trinidad) captured third in the shot put with senior Liz Wanless (Belleville, Ill.) finishing fourth.
"I was really pleased with our shot putters," Florida women's head coach Tom Jones said. "I was just elated for Candice, she had a huge PR. It was the first time for Liz in a competition like this and she performed really well."
Walker earned the fifth All-America honor of his career and broke his own school record by finishing second in the 60m hurdles in 7.66 to give Florida eight points. He was nudged out by Mississippi's Antwon Hicks, who won in 7.64. It was the third time in Walker's career that he finished in the top six in the event. His points gave the Gators 12 and moved them into third place behind Oregon (20) and Virginia Tech (14) after four events.
"I was ready to run," Walker said. "I came out and executed the way I wanted to. I might have given it away because I got complacent at the last hurdle, but I feel like I came in and did what I wanted to do. You can't complain with a PR in your last indoor meet."
Scott's mark of 17.65m/57-11 is a new personal best by nearly eight inches and help secure her ninth All-American honor as a Gator. Scott will defend her weight throw crown tomorrow and attempt to become the only woman to win the championship three times in the history of NCAA competition.
Wanless earned the first Division I All-American honor of her career with a mark of 17.23m/56-06.50. Her best throw coming in her second attempt of her first NCAA Division I indoor final. Wanless was previously an All-American at Division III Bates College in the shot put.
Morrison squeaked into the finals of the long jump with a mark of 7.53m/24-8.50 and improved to 7.80m/25-7.25 to finish fifth and earn the Gators four points, while picking up the sixth All-America honor of his career.
In one of the fastest series of 200m events in U.S. history, Clement eventually finished sixth in the finals with a time of 20.63 as the American record was set twice during the evening. It marked the fifth All-America honor of his career and brought the Gators into a tie for third with 15 points with one event left in the evening.
Clement easily ran the top time in the prelims of the 400m as he won his heat in 46.05 with Terry Gatson of Arkansas the next closest in 46.22. Clement will run in the finals of the 400m at 7:05 p.m. on Saturday.
Tiandra Ponteen (St. Kitts) advanced to Saturday's 400m final, clocking in with a time of 51.62 Friday, the fastest qualifying time of the day. Ponteen dashed to a time of 24.29 in the first 200m and coasted to the top qualifying position, which puts her in lane five of Saturday's final.
"Tiandra ran a smart race," Jones said. "It was very typical of her, fast and of high quality."
Freshman Richard Adu-Bobie (Orleans, Canada) posted a personal-best time of 6.68 in the prelims of the 60m, which was the third-fastest prelim time and the fourth-fastest in Florida history and will compete in the finals at 7.25 p.m. Saturday.
Senior Kyle Farmer (Columbia, Md.) barely missed out on advancing to the finals in the 200m after posting a time of 20.96 to finish 10th. In the mile prelims, senior Steve Zieminski (Sarasota, Fla.) led his heat at the quarter-mile, half-mile and three-quarter-mile points of the race, but eventually finished sixth in his heat and 13th overall in 4:08.17 and did not advance to the finals. Freshman Bernard Middleton (Jacksonville, Fla.) did not advance to the finals of the 400m and finished 14th in 47.09. Also in action for the women was senior All-American Krystle Moss (Alexandria, Va.) who finished in 13th place clearing 1.76m/5-09.25 in the high jump.
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