National Collegiate Athletic Association

The NCAA News - News and Features

March 3, 1997

Division I

Arkansas ready to avenge defeat

Event: 1997 Division I Men's Indoor Track Championships.

Overview: The 1996 championships marked the end of Arkansas' 12-year reign as George Mason claimed its first title, but the 1997 championships likely will be remembered as the year Arkansas returned to the throne. Showcasing standouts Robert Howard, defending indoor and outdoor triple-jump champion, and Ryan Wilson, defending indoor 3,000-meter run champion, Arkansas enters the championships with a talented and deep squad that is unmatched. Howard posted the top qualifying mark in the triple jump through February 11 at 16.70 meters, while Wilson was one of only three competitors in the 3,000-meter run to post a sub-eight-minute mark. Sean Kaley, Seneca Lassiter, Philip Price and Michael Power compose Arkansas' middle-distance and distance corps, while James Ballard (high jump) and Antoine Howard will score valuable points ... George Mason will lead the field chasing the Razorbacks. The Patriots' strength is their middle-distance corps. Julius Achon, defending mile-run champion, is the squad's top performer. Sammy Biwott, Miklos Arpasi, O'Neil Duncan and Ian Weakly, who had posted four of the top five qualifying times in the 800-meter run through February 11, should combine for significant points in the event. The Patriots also will be a factor in the relay events ... UTEP, Oklahoma and UCLA also should be in the chase. UTEP's Obadele Thompson, defending 200-meter dash champion and event record-holder, could win both the 55- and 200-meter dashes. Oklahoma's quartet of Edward Clark, Ryan Kite, Roxbert Martin and Danny McFarlane should successfully defend its 1,600-meter relay title, and the Sooners also should score in the 400-meter dash to place among the top teams overall.

Field: A maximum of 270 student-athletes will qualify for competition.

Dates and site: March 7-8 at the RCA Dome in Indianapolis. Butler and USA Track and Field are cohosts.

Television coverage: The championships will be broadcast tape-delayed by ESPN at 12:30 p.m. (Eastern time) March 15.

Information/results: The fax-on-demand telephone number is 770/399-3060 (passcode 1915); request numbers are 1565 for dates/site/schedule, 5264 for qualifiers, 5265 for first-day results, 5266 for second-day results and 5267 for final results only. Championships results also will be available on the World Wide Web at www.ncaa.org. Results will be published in the March 17 issue of The NCAA News.

Championships note: Wisconsin's Reggie Torian shattered the collegiate record in the 60-meter hurdles this year, posting a time of 7.47 at Wisconsin.