Ark
Arkansas Claims National Title No. 41; Spearmon Defends NCAA 200 Crown
SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Arkansas reigned supreme once again as the Razorbacks
captured their third-straight NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championship and
12th outdoor national crown in front of a crowd of 10,200 at the Alex G.
Spanos Sports Complex. Arkansas now owns an unprecedented 41 NCAA titles,
the most of any NCAA Division I track program.
The Razorbacks’ outstanding performances racked up 60 points for the
first-place team trophy, while Southeastern Conference opponents Florida and
LSU finished second (49) and third (36), respectively. BYU and Florida
State rounded out the top five and tied with 34 points each.
“It’s nice to have No. 41,” Arkansas head coach John McDonnell said.
“Florida gave us a great meet and really pushed us with everything they
had. I would rank this meet as a close second to the NCAA indoor meet
(earlier this year). We were so well-balanced and everyone gave a 100
percent, but that’s what I’ve come to expect. We don’t like to lose. It’s
a tradition that’s been handed down by teams from the past. I think this
team is one of the great ones and people will compare them to the squads
from 1984-85 and 1994-95.”
The convincing victory came after the 200-meter dash when UA’s trio of
fantastic sprinters earned 17 points with a 1-3-8 finish and clinched the
meet. Sophomore Wallace Spearmon Jr., led the crew as he successfully
defended his 200-meter title and reclaimed the school record from senior
Tyson Gay with a new world-leading time of 19.91. The winning time is
seventh on the all-time collegiate list and is the third-fastest ever run at
an NCAA meet.
“I knew I had to get out, so once I came around that turn I knew I had it,”
Spearmon said. “I had to step up when it counted and help the team. On the
straight-away I looked over and saw Tyson and (Xavier) Carter, so I knew I
was in a good spot. I couldn’t have asked for a better ending. It’s like a
Disney movie.”
“It was awesome and it sealed the meet,” Brauman exclaimed. “Wallace has
been banged up for the past month and he was able to put a good one together
in the finals of the NCAA Championships.”
Spearmon is now a four-time NCAA champion and seven-time All-American.
There is little doubt that the Fayetteville, Ark., native will leave an
indelible mark on the University of Arkansas as he announced after his
performance that he would more than likely turn professional based on the
advice of his coaches, McDonnell and Brauman.
Gay had recorded the previous school record on Thursday night when he put up
a 19.93 in the semifinals, besting Spearmon’s 19.97 from April. During
Saturday night’s final he finished third with a time of 20.16, while LSU’s
Xavier Carter took second place (20.08).
“I wasn’t shocked at all that Wallace won,” Gay said. “He has a tendency to
put it together when it counts. I’m happy for him.”
Senior Omar Brown was the next Hog to finish when he came in eighth. Brown
turned in a time of 22.38 after he cramped up towards the end of the race.
All three runners earned All-America honors by virtue of their finishes in
their final races in an Arkansas jersey. Gay closed his career as a
two-time NCAA champion and seven-time All-American, while Omar will go away
as a member of the national championship relay team and a four-time
All-American.
“That was terrific,” McDonnell said. “I’ll remember those guys for a long
time. They are great athletes and great friends.”
Senior Terry Gatson picked up Arkansas’ first two points of the day when he
finished in seventh place in the 400-meter dash with a clocking of 45.68.
It was Gatson’s fourth-career All-American honor. In the semis he
registered the second-fastest overall time and a career-best clocking of
44.93 and was hoping to carry that performance over to the finals, but it
was Baylor’s Darold Williamson who took the tape with a time of 44.51.
The 1,500 meters was next on the schedule and sophomore Adam Perkins was
coming off a five-second personal-best time of 3:39.82 from the prelims on
Thursday. The Liberty, Mo., native put up a strong performance down the
final stretch and passed four runners to finish in fourth place with another
career-best time of 3:38.54. More importantly, he crossed the line one
place ahead of Florida’s Shane Stroup (3:38.57), while the winning time of
3:37.13 was turned in by Texas freshman Leonel Manzano. Perkins’ time
finally placed him in UA’s all-time outdoor top list at ninth, slightly
ahead of former Razorback great Alistair Cragg (3:39.24).
“I went out hard and I felt it,” Perkins said. “I saw the guys from Florida
(Shane Stroup) and Florida State (Tom Lancashire) and knew I had to finish
ahead of them, so I gave it one last lean at the end. I wanted to win, but
the way the race was run it didn’t work out.”
Perkins’ five points gave UA a total of 39, while Florida increased their
tally to 32. The Gators earned more points in the 400-meter hurdles after
Kerron Clement won the event in an NCAA meet record time. Those 10 points
moved UF past the Hogs into first with 42 points as UA did not have an
athlete entered in the event.
The Razorbacks wasted little time firing back with three of the nation’s top
sprinters in the blocks for the 200-meter dash. The 17 points vaulted
Arkansas back into first with 56 points, while Florida sat with 44 points.
Senior Jaanus Uudmae tacked on UA’s final four points for the night when he
registered a fifth-place finish in the triple jump. Uudmae put up his best
mark of 53-2.25 on his second-to-last attempt to garner his third-career
All-America honor.
The 5,000 meters was the final running event and junior Josphat Boit was
representing Arkansas. He was running in his third race for the weekend and
was gunning for another point-earning finish after he came in sixth in the
10,000 meters on Thursday night. Unfortunately, a sore hamstring flared up
and he had to drop out of the race.
For the weekend two national titles, including the 200-meter dash and
4x100-meter relay, were earned by Arkansas in record times and 11 Razorbacks
gained 15 All-America honors.
The conclusion of the 2005 outdoor campaign also marked the final time that
nine Razorback athletes would compete in an Arkansas jersey. This year’s
large and talented group included Omar Brown, P.J. Brown, Terry Gatson,
Tyson Gay, James Hatch, Jason Sandfort, Wallace Spearmon Jr., Robbie Stevens
and Jaanus Uudmae.
Together they have amassed 36 All-America honors, 12 SEC championships and
72 All-SEC honors. Their presence on the roster will be missed, but with
one of the nation’s top recruiting classes coming in the fall and decorated
returnees Arkansas will look to continue its reign on top of the collegiate
track and field scene in 2006.
LSU
An exclamation point was put on the evening's festivities when the speedy
foursome of Reginald Dardar, Kelly Willie, Bennie Brazell and Xavier Carter
ran a world-leading time of 2:59.59 to claim the long relay title.
The order, a new one for the Tiger relay team that has been anchored by
Willie all season, paid dividends in the outcome as school, NCAA meet and
collegiate records were all surpassed.
"That's the order all along we have wanted to run in the end. I knew it
would give us the best chance to win," said LSU head coach Dennis Shaver,
who has now coached athletes to three collegiate records during his career.
"I knew the race was over when Xavier got the stick," Shaver added.
Running the anchor leg for the first time this season, Carter clocked a
blistering 44.0 split to hold off runner-up Arizona State (3:00.57) and
secure the victory.
"Because I had such good 400 runners behind me, I felt like I had to get
out in the first 200, as if they were going to come get me anyway," said
Carter. "So I was going to break then down in the first 200. They seemed
like they wanted to whip me, so I had to just hold on."
The time put the Tigers in elite company, as LSU became just the third
school in NCAA history, and the first since the 1988 season to break the
three minute barrier in the event.
The performance came after a pair of outstanding individual efforts by
Brazell and Carter in the 400-meter hurdles and the 200 meters,
respectively.
Brazell became the first Tiger in school history to run under 48 seconds in
the 400-meter hurdles, clocking a sizzling 47.67 to earn runner-up honors
for the second straight season, and the third time in his career. The time,
a personal best by .38 seconds, bettered his previous school record mark of
48.05 set last year at the U.S. Olympic Trials.
"I looked up at the scoreboard and was real happy with my time, but I did
want to win," said Brazell who finished his Tiger career as a five-time
national champion and 14-time All-American.
"I am real happy for Bennie," said Shaver. "He finally got in the record
books. He has done a great job for LSU and he has always been a great team
guy."
Also earning runner-up honors for the Tiger squad was freshman phenom
Xavier Carter. Carter turned in his fastest race of the week, crossing the
line in 20.08, by was outlasted by Arkansas' Wallace Spearmon who finished
with a world-leading time of 19.91.
Willie tacked on an additional three points towards the Tigers' team total
earning his third straight All-America honor in the outdoor 400 meters. The
now 14-time All-American clocked 45.17 in placing sixth overall.
With 14 All-America awards each, Brazell and Willie now stand atop the
Tigers' all-time All-America awards list, surpassing former Tiger great
Pete Coley who previously held the school record with 12 honors.
The SEC sweep the top-three spots in the men's standings with Arkansas
taking the overall crown (60), Florida finishing second (49) and the Tigers
following in third (36).
UF
Clement ran neck and neck with LSU's Bennie Brazell until the ninth
hurdle when Brazell surged ahead while Clement stutter-stepped on the
final two hurdles. But Clement closed the gap after the 10th hurdle and
moved into the lead, crossing the line in a NCAA meet record time of
47.56. He became the first collegian since Kevin Young in 1987-88 to win
the 400m hurdle title in back-to-back seasons and just the sixth to ever
accomplish the feat in school history. His win also moved the Gators
into first place in the meet with 42 points, while Arkansas was second
with 39 after 16 events were scored.
"It's amazing - it feels good to win a national title again," Clement
said. "I was focus today and my goal was to win and break my own record,
which I did. I wasn't really worried when Bennie was in the lead after
the 10th hurdle because I knew my speed would kick in after that."
Ponteen raced around the oval in a school record time of 50.83 in the
400m to finish second to UCLA's Monique Henderson who broke the NCAA
meet record clocking in at 50.10, a mark that stood since 1989. Saturday
marked the first 400m final in which Ponteen did not finish first during
the indoor or outdoor season in 2005. Ponteen has now collected six
All-American honors while at Florida and is the school record holder in
both the indoor and outdoor 400m. Ponteen's time on Saturday is the
seventh fastest in the world in 2005.
"I'm really happy for Tiandra," women's head coach Tom Jones said. "She
has been really banged up all year and to come out and run like that, I
couldn't be more proud."
Picking up his third All-America honor of the meet and ninth of his
career was Morrison in the high jump as he finished fourth. He was one
of only two competitors to clear the first five heights on his first
attempt, but Morrison couldn't clear the bar at 2.26m/7-5, which would
have been a career best. He did jump 2.23m/7-3.75 in the fifth round,
which tied his previous outdoor best at Florida. After picking up an
All-America honor in the long jump on Friday by taking fifth, Morrison
became the first Gator in school history to earn All-America status in
both events at the same meet. Following the event, Florida narrowed the
gap to 34-28 after 14 events in the race for the team title.
Stroup came up with late heroics in finishing fifth in the 1,500m.
Following his race at East Regionals where he went from last to second
in the final 400m, Stroup was 11th out of 12 runners entering the final
lap. He again raced past the back of the pack and slowly worked his into
the leap group where nudged into fifth place in 3:38.57 - breaking
current Florida coach Jeff Pigg's school record, which was set in 1987.
Stroup's time was also more than eight seconds faster than his previous
best of 3:46.74. The All-America honor was the second of his career.
After the event, Arkansas led 39-32 after 15 events.
Collecting three points for the women on Saturday was Knight who placed
sixth in the 200m final in a time of 23.29 garnering the third
All-American honor of her young Gator career.
"I very pleased with Natalie's run," Jones said. "That is a heck of a
run out of lane two. She was really stretched this week and she did a
heck of a job."
Knight also collected All-American honors on Friday as a member of
Florida's sixth place 4x100m relay team.
"This whole experience has been overwhelming," Knight said. "I'm happy
with where I finished. I've been banged up a little so I don't think I
could have done much better."
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