UA MEN’S TRACK : Hogs seek trophy
Posted on Wednesday, June 11, 2008
John McDonnell doesn’t bank on exiting his farewell Razorback track meet with national championship No. 43.
Just not requiring an eye patch upon leaving Des Moines, Iowa, after the NCAA Outdoor Men’s Track and Field Championships will do.
“ I don’t think we have enough firepower to win it but the top four get a trophy, and I’d be happy with that, ” McDonnell said. “ It’s not first, but it’s better than a poke in the eye. ”
It’s usually been other teams not just poked in the eye but run into the ground by McDonnell-coached Razorbacks in cross country, indoor and outdoor track.
Now that’s about to close. Arkansas’ head cross country coach since 1972 and head track coach since 1978 retires at Saturday’s conclusion of the four-day NCAA Outdoor starting today at Drake University’s Drake Stadium.
McDonnell exits with 84 conference championships in his three sports and has those 42 national titles including 12 outdoors (the last in 2005 ), 19 indoors and 11 in cross country.
Regardless of the week’s doings in Des Moines, McDonnell’s men have had a great year. They won the SEC triple crown of league cross country, indoor and outdoor titles.
Conference always is huge to McDonnell. He considers his program’s top achievement to be its 34 consecutive cross country crowns.
Arkansas had never won a conference indoor crown until his 1979 Razorbacks won the Southwest Conference and had never won a conference outdoor until his 1982 Razorbacks completed the UA’s first SWC Cross Country-Indoor-Outdoor triple crown.
Still, this is the national championship meet, and the Razorbacks want to respond accordingly in their coach’s farewell.
“ The guys are very aware of it, ” Dick Booth, the field events coach, former U. S. Olympic coach and longtime McDonnell right-hand man, said. “ We’ve got to bust our butt. ”
Booth has been interviewed as a candidate to succeed his boss but said he’s leaving that out of any motivational equation.
“ They already have too many things piled on top of them, ” Booth said. “ Taking care of John’s last meet is enough. ”
The LSU, Auburn and Tennessee teams the Hogs defeated on the conference level are deemed by many stronger than Arkansas for the national meet.
Defending NCAA Outdoor champion Florida State and 2008 NCAA Indoor champion Arizona State rank higher, too.
Still, McDonnell expects his Hogs to outpoint some of them, even if perhaps they can’t outpoint them all.
“ We’re in the hunt, ” McDonnell said.
Led by 2008 NCAA Indoor champion / SEC Outdoor champion triple jumper Nkosinza Balumbu, Arkansas got sixth place at the NCAA Indoor last March in Fayetteville.
The Hogs should score more to contend for the top four in Des Moines, with NCAA Regional 3, 000-meter steeplechase champion Peter Kosgei and SEC Outdoor javelin champion Luke Laird competing in events not conducted indoors.
Also, SEC long jump champ Alain Bailey is jumping better than ever, and spr inter J-Mee Samuels seems primed in the 100-meter dash.
“ We have a chance to win some individual titles in the steeplechase, the triple jump and the long jump, ” McDonnell said. “ We have a really good shot at those titles. Those and J-Mee in the 100 are our big guns. ”
Kosgei, “ 10 pounds lighter than last year, ” McDonnell said comparing the Kenyan now to his struggling 2007, ranks second nationally in the steeple (8: 33. 42 ) and Bailey (26-0 3-4 ) ranks seventh with the top eight finishers scoring team points.
Samuels ranks sixth (10. 08 ) in the 100-meter dash but that’s only. 03 out of fourth and. 07 out of third.
Shawn Forrest (28: 24. 44 ) ranks sixth in the 10, 000-meter run while James Strang (28: 33. 33 ) ranks ninth in the 10, 000.
SEC Outdoor champion Balumbu (54-1 3-4 ) only ranks sixth but McDonnell and Booth expect their lone active NCAA Indoor champ to fare much better than sixth in the heat of competition.
McDonnell said team captain Balumbu was “ the leader” gathering the Hogs for their upset SEC meet triumph.
Booth believes Balumbu will jump as good as the conditions will allow and the competition forces him to be.
“ If the weather is neutral, I really think he’s going to go high 54 or 55 ish, ” Booth said. “ Now if the wind changes and is in his face or it’s raining, that’s going to diminish that potential but it does that same thing for everybody. So it does not change expectations of winning, it just means it won’t be as far. ”
Rounding out Arkansas’ Des Moines entries are Laird (12 th, javelin, 228-4 ), Alex McClary (16 th, 800-meters, 1: 48. 05 ), the 4 x 100 relay of Mychael Stewart, Cedric Zellner, Bailey and Samuels (17 th, 39. 70 ), Scott MacPherson (20 th, 3, 000-meter steeplechase, 8: 48. 35 ) and freshman Spencer McCorkel (23 rd, pole vault, 17-2 3-4 ).
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