Hogs win NCAA Indoor Championships
Posted on Sunday, March 12, 2006
URL: http://www.nwanews.com/nwat/Sports/38375/
John McDonnell awoke Saturday morning knowing his Razorbacks stood a one in four chance winning the conclusion to the two-day NCAA Men’s Indoor Track and Field Championships.
As usual by Saturday night, his Razorbacks celebrated on the victory stand.
National championship No. 42 for McDonnell in cross country, indoor and outdoor track and the Razorbacks’ second straight NCAA Indoor title is in the books as 5,556 watched at Arkansas’ Randal Tyson Indoor Track.
McDonnell’s men outscored runner-up LSU, 53-45 with Florida State, 41, third and Texas, 35, fourth. "This was a really tough meet," McDonnell said, "because we knew any of four teams [Arkansas, LSU, Florida State or Texas] could win it. But we didn’t make any mistakes. What a great team performance!’
The Razorbacks compiled 53 points, the last 25 almost simultaneously as senior Jaanus Uudmae (a personal record 54-4 1-2) and freshman Nkosinza Balumbu (53-2 1-4) placed first and fifth in the triple jump while Josphat Boit (8:04.15), Marc Rorigues (8:08.02) and Peter Kosgei (8:15.53) placed third, seventh and eighth in the 3,000.
Said Ahmed started Saturday night’s scoring placing third (4:13.38) in a tactically run mile.
Friday night Ahmed had anchored Arkansas’ distance medley relay to victory while Boit won the 5,000 with Kosgei, eighth while Uudmae long jumped a personal best 25-10 for three sixth-place points.
" We all did exactly what I thought we would do, "McDonnell said." Our seniors [Uudmae, Boit and Ahmed] did it, considering how we’ve come together from a bad start to the season. "
It was the final Razorback meet for Ahmed and Uudmae who have already spent their final season of outdoor eligibility.
" I dreamt about this a little bit, "Uudmae, a fifth-year senior from the former Soviet Union country of Estonia, said, thanking everyone in the building for carrying him through his first and last NCAA long jump-triple jump double.
" I’d like to thank the training staff, "Uudmae said," All the doctors, my coach [Dick Booth], my girlfriend and all the awesome fans here. It sounds like an Academy Awards, but that’s what it was, a total team effort. For Nkosinza to do what he did was awesome. "
As an NCAA Indoor champion, Uudmae joins such illustrious Razorback horizontal jumping greats as Mike Conley, Erick Walder, Melvin Lister and the late Robert Howard.
" I don’t consider myself with those guys, "Uudmae said," but it’s great to keep the tradition alive. "
Uudmae hit what proved to be the winner on his first jump, but there was still conjecture LSU might catch the Hogs when Boit, Rodrigues and Kosgei ran the 3,000.
" John said we needed at least eight points, "Boit said," in the 3,000 and we made sure to get it. "
Boit was second for much of the race.
The mile field crawled through a 2:18 800 which turned the race’s second half into a sprint.
McDonnell thought a little faster pace would have helped Ahmed separate from Kansas State winner Christian Smith, but Ahmed, tired from Friday night both running a 4:02 mile prelim and then running Arkansas’ distance medley relay to victory on the anchor mile, disagreed.
Smith ran 4:13.175 with Iowa State’s David Rotich second, 4:13.12, Ahmed, third 4:13.23 and Florida State’s Tom Lancashire, fourth, 4:13.38.
" I wish the pace would have been better, "McDonnell said." Because even tired from last night, he could have run faster. The guy that beat him is a great 800-meter runner so the pace played into his hands. "The points were OK. That’s what we counted on because he was tired. He beat the guys from Florida State and Texas [seventhplace Leonel Manzano]."
Ahmed’s view differed. "You couldn’t have asked better than the slower pace," Ahmed said. "Because if it had gone hard, I didn’t have any legs left from last night. I just made sure I didn’t get beat by Florida State or Texas. That was the key thing.
" I wanted to win but he beat me to the curve and held me off. I thought I would get him in the backstretch but he was gone. He’s a fast kid. "
At the NCAA Women’s Indoor Championships here, Lady Razorback sophomore Tominique Boatright got an eighth-place All-American point in Saturday’s 400 meters.
It was quite an achievement for one ranked 16 th among 16 qualifiers. It should have been better, Lady Razorback sprint coach Lonnie Greene said, had the meet been properly officiated.
Boatright qualified sixth in a school record 53.17 in Friday’s prelims but was moved to Lane 2, a disadvantage making up the stagger on a tight indoor track, after LSU runner Deonna Lawrence was restored to the field following her lane violation disqualification in Friday’s prelim being successfully appealed.
She ran 53.23 Saturday night.
" They shouldn’t have put her in Lane 2, "Greene said.
Boatright said it" was hard to regroup" from the lane assignment handicap but added, "I’m an All-American so I am happy with that."
Arkansas junior pole vaulter Jodi Unger netted an All-American eighth-place point clearing 13-0 1/4.
Lance Harter’s Lady Razorbacks finished with those two points to tie for 51 st.
Texas won the women’s meet 51-36 over runnerup Stanford.
Boatright, Jessica Cousins, Sasha Rolle and Springdale’s Paige Farrell ran the 4x400 relay in a non-scoring 10 th place in 3:33.72
Texas won the women’s meet 51-36 over runnerup Stanford.