The NCAA News - News and Features

The NCAA News -- June 21, 1999

Arkansas rallies in men's outdoor track to reap rare 'triple crown'

On the same day Charismatic was unable to complete horse racing's Triple Crown, Arkansas rallied to secure its own by winning the Division I Men's Outdoor Track and Field Championships at Boise State.

Heading into the final day of the June 2-5 competition, Stanford had built up a 22-point advantage over the Razorbacks. However, six Arkansas competitors scored in five events on the champion's climb up the standings -- from fifth place to fourth to second, and finally, to the top spot.

Arkansas, which finished with 59 points to Stanford's 52, won its eighth consecutive title and ninth overall. The winning streak is the second longest in the 78-year history of the championships, which trails only Southern California's run of nine straight crowns from 1935-43.

In addition, the Razorbacks became the first institution in Division I history to win the men's cross country, indoor track and outdoor track and field titles in the same academic year--the "triple crown"-- five times.

"This is awesome," said Arkansas head coach John McDonnell. "We have everything to lose and nothing to gain because we're favored. If we win, we're supposed to and that's a lot of pressure."

The Razorbacks snagged their first 12 points of the final day in the 1,500-meter run. Two-time defending champion Seneca Lassiter of Arkansas stayed behind teammate Sharif Karie, Washington State's Bernard Lagat and Southern Methodist's Clyde Colenso until the end of the second lap when he made his move.

Lassiter quickly picked up the pace during the bell lap to take the lead. However, Colenso charged past both Lagat and Lassiter in the final 10 meters to win the race. Karie contributed a fifth-place finish.

"My heart kept beating faster in the 1,500," said McDonnell. "It was a heck of a race and Seneca (Lassiter) beat the two guys he thought he was supposed to and got beat by a guy that was supposed to finish fourth or fifth."

Stanford ran out of scoring with its final two points in the 1,500 while Arkansas still had two athletes in the high and triple jumps, the defending champion in the 3,000-meter steeplechase and an all-American shot putter.

The Razorbacks' Melvin Lister and Lavar Miller were in the triple jump, where Arkansas expected to make up even more ground. Miller struggled with an injury and did not advance to the finals. Lister, who won the long-jump title earlier in the championship, placed fifth and Arkansas closed in on the Cardinal with 39 points.

Kenny Evans then cleared 7 feet, 5 1/4 inches for a third-place finish in the high jump and another six Arkansas points.

With Matt Kerr set to defend his steeplechase championship, the Razorbacks' comeback was set to move into high gear. Oklahoma State's Chuck Sloan took the early lead as Kerr and UTEP's Carlos Suarez-Gonzales, who came in with the top time in the country, remained close behind.

Suarez-Gonzales and Kerr passed Sloan and it became a two-man race with two laps remaining. "I made my move with two laps out," Kerr said. "I knew it would have to be pretty decisive. I closed in on Suarez and took the lead coming off the bend and just finished strong."

Kerr moved Arkansas into first place by winning the race by less than a second over Suarez-Gonzales.

Marcus Clavelle padded the Razorbacks' lead when he claimed fifth place in the shot put.

The title was the 33rd NCAA championship in either cross country, indoor track or outdoor track and field for Arkansas since 1984, all under the tutelage of McDonnell.

Florida freshman John Capel thrilled the crowd by blazing to a record-tying 19.87-second victory in the 200-meter dash. The mark also tied for fourth place on the all-time collegiate list.

TEAM STANDINGS

1. Arkansas, 59; 2. Stanford, 52; 3. Southern Methodist, 49; 4. Auburn, 40; 5. Southern California, 33; 6. (tie) South Carolina and Texas, 30; 8. UTEP, 25; 9. (tie) Florida and LSU, 24.

11. Washington St., 23; 12. (tie) Brigham Young and Tennessee, 22; 14. Arizona, 20; 15. Baylor, 19; 16. (tie) Northeast La. and UCLA, 15; 18. Arizona St., 14; 19. Clemson, 13; 20. (tie) Missouri and Utah St., 12.

22. (tie) Colorado and Indiana St., 11; 24. (tie) Alabama, Eastern Mich. and Kansas St., 10; 27. Boise St., 9; 28. (tie) Houston and Minnesota, 8; 30. (tie) Illinois and Syracuse, 7.

32. (tie) California, Central Mich., Colorado St., Hampton, Idaho, Kansas, Long Beach St., Mississippi, Northern Ariz. and Oral Roberts, 6.

42. (tie) Duke, Iowa, Iowa St., Middle Tenn. St., Montana, North Carolina, Northern Iowa, Wake Forest and Weber St., 5.

51. (tie) Cal Poly, Georgia Tech, Michigan St., Oklahoma St., Princeton, Stephen F. Austin and Texas A&M, 4; 58. (tie) Brown, Dartmouth, Fresno St., James Madison, Nebraska, Penn St. and William & Mary, 3.

65. (tie) Georgia, Kentucky, Notre Dame, Oregon and St. John's (N.Y.), 2; 70. (tie) Georgetown, Illinois St., Indiana, Louisville, Massachusetts, Montana St., Northwestern St. and Prairie View, 1.

INDIVIDUAL RESULTS

100-meter dash: 1. Leonard Myles-Mills, Brigham Young, 9.98; 2. John Capel, Florida, 10.03; 3. Virgil Maddox, Oral Roberts, 10.12; 4. Daymon Carroll, Florida, 10.20; 5. Nathanael Esprit, Texas, 10.20; 6. Coby Miller, Auburn, 10.21; 7. Kaaron Conwright, Cal Poly, 10.25; 8. Terrence Trammell, South Carolina, 10.33.

200-meter dash: 1. John Capel, Florida, 19.87 (ties meet record set by Lorenzo Daniel, Mississippi St., 1988); 2. Coby Miller, Auburn, 20.04; 3. Charles Lee, Southern California, 20.53; 4. Corey Nelson, Boise St., 20.57; 5. Jeremy Taylor, Alabama, 20.64; 6. Shawn Crawford, Clemson, 20.75; 7. Kaaron Conwright, Cal Poly, 20.82; Bryan Howard, TCU, did not finish.

400-meter dash: 1. Clement Chukwu, Eastern Mich., 44.79; 2. Derrick Brew, LSU, 45.04; 3. Jerome Davis, Southern California, 45.06; 4. Avard Moncur, Auburn, 45.35; 5. Ato Modibo, Clemson, 45.37; 6. Julius Edwards, Auburn, 45.99; 7. Corey Nelson, Boise St., 46.12; 8. Tony Berrian, Arizona St., 46.23.

800-meter run: 1. Derrick Peterson, Missouri, 1:46.97; 2. Patrick Nduwimana, Arizona, 1:47.22; 3. Roman Oravec, Southern Methodist, 1:47.66; 4. Bobby True, Illinois, 1:47.93; 5. James Karanu, Arkansas, 1:47.96; 6. Trinity Gray, Brown, 1:48.56; 7. Ian Roberts, St. John's (N.Y.), 1:49.22; 8. Davidson Gill, Clemson, 1:49.95.

1,500-meter run: 1. Clyde Colenso, Southern Methodist, 3:47.54; 2. Seneca Lassiter, Arkansas, 3:47.67; 3. Bryan Berryhill, Colorado St., 3:48.21; 4. Bernard Lagat, Washington St., 3:48.88; 5. Sharif Karie, Arkansas, 3:50.18; 6. Jason Long, James Madison, 3:50.63; 7. Jake Maas, Stanford, 3:51.56; 8. Sam Gabremariam, Georgetown 3:51.85.

3,000-meter steeplechase: 1. Matt Kerr, Arkansas, 8:44.29; 2. Carlos Suarez-Gonzales, UTEP, 8:45.14; 3. Adam Batliner, Colorado, 8:46.33; 4. Tom Reese, Colorado, 8:47.29; 5. Chuck Sloan, Oklahoma St., 8:49.76; 6. Anthony Famiglietti, Tennessee, 8:50.11; 7. Travis Armstrong, Boise St., 8:52.02; 8. Tom Chorny, Indiana, 8:54.17.

5,000-meter run: 1. Bernard Lagat, Washington St., 14:01.09; 2. Brad Hauser, Stanford, 14:01.82; 3. Tim Broe, Alabama, 14:04.15; 4. Mike Power, Arkansas, 14:06.91; 5. Brent Hauser, Stanford, 14:08.74; 6. Matthew Lane, William & Mary, 14:10.71; 7. Steven Fein, Oregon, 14:11.70; 8. Jason Balkman, Stanford, 14:11.73.

10,000-meter run: 1. Nathan Nutter, Stanford, 29:11.96; 2. Jason Balkman, Stanford, 29:12.91; 3. Brent Hauser, Stanford, 29:14.07; 4. Nolan Swanson, Wake Forest, 29:21.16; 5. Jim Jurcevich, Michigan St., 29:25.14; 6. Abdi Abdirahman, Arizona, 29:34.03; 7. Ryan Shay, Notre Dame, 29:55.78; 8. Chris Bailey, Illinois St., 30:00.17.

110-meter high hurdles: 1. Terrence Trammell, South Carolina, 13.45; 2. Dawane Wallace, Tennessee, 13.57; 3. Greg Richardson, Central Mich., 13.59; 4. Ron Bramlett, Middle Tenn. St., 13.82; 5. Adrian Woodley, Syracuse, 13.83; 6. Aubrey Herring, Indiana St., 13.83; 7. William Erese, Southern California, 13.88; 8. Kris Allen, Texas A&M, 13.93.

400-meter intermediate hurdles: 1. Bayano Kamani, Baylor, 48.68; 2. Corey Murdock, Utah St., 49.34; 3. James Carter, Hampton, 49.45; 4. Jesse Allen, Duke, 49.90; 5. Sam Glover, Arkansas, 50.39; 6. Michael Smith, Baylor, 50.51; 7. Ken Garrett, Georgia, 50.69; 8. Adrian Mann, Florida, 51.47.

400-meter relay: 1. South Carolina (Clint Crenshaw, Terrence Trammell, Shah Mays, Jamie Price), 38.92; 2. Southern California, 39.15; 3. Brigham Young, 39.28; 4. North Carolina, 39.48; 5. Clemson, 39.63; 6. Texas A&M, 39.69; 7. UTEP, 39.93; Florida, disqualified.

1,600-meter relay: 1. UCLA (Michael Granville, Malachi Davis, Terrence Williams, Brian Fell), 3:02.12; 2. Auburn, 3:02.19; 3. Baylor, 3:02.73; 4. Iowa, 3:03.41; 5. Georgia Tech, 3:03.43; 6. Arizona St., 3:06.74; 7. Southern California, 3:11.26; Clemson, did not finish.

High jump: 1. Mark Boswell, Texas, 2.33 (7-7 3/4); 2. Staffan Strand, Minnesota, 2.30 (7-6 1/2); 3. Kenny Evans, Arkansas, 2.27 (7-5 1/4); 4. Charles Clinger, Weber St., 2.27 (7-5 1/4); 5. Tora Harris, Princeton, 2.24 (7-4 1/4); 6. Shane Lavy, Nebraska, 2.21 (7-3); 7. Marc Chenn, Brigham Young, 2.21 (7-3); 8. Ronald Nelson, Prairie View, 2.21 (7-3).

Pole vault: 1. Jacob Davis, Texas, 5.56 (18-2 3/4); 2. Toby Stevenson, Stanford, 5.45 (17-10 1/2); 3. Borya Celentano, Long Beach St., 5.45 (17-10 1/2); 4. Jake Pauli, Northern Iowa, 5.45 (17-10 1/2); 5. Jeff Hansen, Brigham Young, 5.45 (17-10 1/2); 6. Jim Davis, Fresno St., 5.30 (17-4 1/2); 7. (tie) Jeff Dutoit, Arizona, Russell Johnson, Tennessee, and Dennis Kholev, Southern California 5.15 (16-10 3/4).

Long jump (w indicates wind-aided): 1. Melvin Lister, Arkansas, 8.18 (26-10); 2. Frankie Young, Indiana St., 8.18w (26-10); 3. Savante Stringfellow, Mississippi, 8.12 (26-7 3/4); 4. Dwight Phillips, Arizona St., 7.92 (26-0); 5. Marcell Williams, Stephen F. Austin, 7.86 (25-9 1/2); 6. George Audu, Penn St., 7.82 (25-8); 7. Babatunde Ridley, Illinois, 7.81w (25-7 1/2); 8. Kai Maull, Clemson, 7.80w (25-7 1/4).

Triple jump (w indicates wind-aided): 1. LeVar Anderson, LSU, 17.12w (56-2); 2. Demetrius Murray, Washington St., 16.46w (54-0); 3. Chris Hercules, Texas, 16.43w (53-11); 4. Dwight Phillips, Arizona St., 16.41 (53-10 1/4); 5. Melvin Lister, Arkansas, 16.39w (53-9 1/4); 6. Samuel Okantey, Syracuse, 16.39 (53-9 1/4); 7. Marcus Thomas, LSU, 16.30 (53-5 3/4); 8. Kenta Bell, Northwestern St., 16.28 (53-5).

Shot put: 1. Janus Robberts, Southern Methodist, 20.10 (65-11 1/2); 2. Brad Snyder, South Carolina, 19.77 (64-10 1/2); 3. Joachim Olsen, Idaho, 19.35 (63-6); 4. Jamie Beyer, Iowa St., 19.33 (63-5); 5. Marcus Clavelle, Arkansas, 19.27 (63-2 3/4); 6. John Davis, Houston, 19.00 (62-4); 7. Tepa Reinikainen, UTEP, 18.93 (62-1 1/4); 8. Wade Tift, UCLA, 18.88 (61-11 1/2).

Discus throw: 1. Gabor Mate, Auburn, 61.60 (202-1); 2. Janus Robberts, Southern Methodist, 60.62 (198-11); 3. Nick Petrucci, Northern Ariz., 59.57 (195-5); 4. John Davis, Houston, 59.41 (194-11); 5. Luke Sullivan, UCLA, 59.37 (194-9); 6. Reedus Thurmond, Auburn, 59.31 (194-7); 7. Mark Simmons, Southern Methodist, 59.07 (193-9); 8. James Dennis, Louisville, 58.89 (193-2).

Hammer throw: 1. Andras Haklits, Northeast La., 74.09 (243-1); 2. Norbert Horvath, Southern California, 73.75 (241-11); 3. Libor Charfreitag, Southern Methodist, 73.10 (239-10); 4. Adam Connolly, Stanford, 71.96 (236-1); 5. James Parker, Utah St., 71.24 (233-9); 6. Ilmari Verho, UTEP 68.08 (223-4); 7. Matt Kavanagh, Kentucky, 67.46 (221-4); 8. Bert Sorin, South Carolina, 66.97 (219-9).

Javelin throw: 1. Matti Narhi, UTEP, 79.74 (261-7); 2. Esko Mikkola, Arizona, 76.81 (252-0); 3. Scott Russell, Kansas, 76.80 (252-0); 4. Breaux Greer, Northeast La., 73.57 (241-4); 5. Daniel Gustafsson, Southern Methodist, 72.16 (236-9); 6. Torsten Sippel, Southern Methodist, 71.26 (233-9); 7. Darin File, Missouri, 71.24 (233-9); 8. Vic Morency, Massachusetts, 69.76 (228-10).

Decathlon: 1. Tom Pappas, Tennessee, 8,184; 2. Attila Zsivoczky, Kansas St., 8,129; 3. Bevan Hart, California, 7,773; 4. Troy McDonough, Montana, 7,454; 5. Claston Bernard, LSU, 7,395; 6. Greg Johnston, Dartmouth, 7,340; 7. Jason Williams, Kansas St., 7,307; 8. Stevie Keller, Montana St., 7,264.