Cougar Comes Up Golden In Ncaa Hurdle Finals Vandal Frosh Sets School Record With 4th-Place Finish In 400

Dominique Arnold of Washington State became the first American to win a men’s running event in the NCAA Track and Field Championships Saturday.

Arnold, a senior from Long Beach, Calif., burst away after the final hurdle to win the 110-meter hurdles in 13.45 seconds.

Arnold edged Wisconsin’s Reggie Torian and Texas’ Derek Spears.

Idaho’s Tawanda Chiwira completed the best freshman season in Idaho track and field history by placing fourth in the 400-meter dash in a school record time of 45.55.

“He really came close to winning the race,” said Idaho head coach Mike Keller. “He did a tremendous job. He was sixth or seventh coming off the turn at the 100-meter mark, but he was just blazing that last 100 meters.”

Chiwira, a native of Masvingo, Zimbabwe, broke the school record of 45.58 set in 1985 by Sam Koduah. He also broke his own Zimbabwe national record that he set earlier this year.

He was the only freshman in the 400-meter dash final field and was only one of two that qualified for nationals in the event.

Chiwira’s fourth-place finish is the best finish at outdoor nationals for any Vandal since 1982 when John Trott took fourth in the 800-meter run. He became just the sixth Vandal to ever finish in the top four in the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships.

Alabama’s Jessica Fry, a Rogers High graduate, placed fourth in the 5,000 meters in 16:20.88. Villanova’s Jennifer Rhines won with a time of 16:05.85.

Coeur d’Alene’s Corissa Yasen, who won the heptathlon for Purdue on Thursday, finished eighth in the high jump at 5-10.

Friday, Oregon’s Matt Davis, a Mead High graduate, placed ninth in the 10,000 at 29:39.84. Gonzaga Prep graduate Justin Strand, competing for Stanford, finished 12th in the hammer throw at 210-1.

UCLA’s Ato Boldon, the brash young sprinter from Trinidad who figures to be a gold medal contender in the Olympic Games, won the 100 meters in 9.92 seconds, the fastest time in the world this year.

Boldon, a senior in his last collegiate race, broke the NCAA meet record of 9.97 seconds set by Olapade Adeniken of UTEP in 1992 and the Hayward Field mark of 10.03 set by Joe DeLoach in 1988.

He narrowly missed the collegiate record of 9.91 set by Davidson Ezinwa of Azusa Pacific in 1992.

The race lost some of its luster when Boldon’s chief challenger, Obadele Thompson of UTEP, pulled out of the meet Friday with hamstring and groin injuries. Thompson’s wind-aided 9.69-second clocking earlier this year was the fastest time ever under any conditions.

Olympic hopefuls D’Andre Hill and Zundra Feagin led the way as LSU breezed to its 10th consecutive women’s team championship. Hill won the 100 meters in 11.03 seconds, the third-fastest time in the world this year and a field record. Only Gwen Torrence, who has two races under 11 seconds, has run faster this year.

The Tigers became the first women’s team to win 10 consecutive titles in any sport. North Carolina won nine straight women’s soccer titles from 1986 to 1994.

Arkansas got a first place from Robert Howard in the triple jump at 56-1-3/4 and was on target for a fifth consecutive men’s championship.

Hill was second in the 200 to Feagin. Their times of 22.44 and 22.49 were the second- and third-fastest in the world this year. Astia Walker completed a 1-2-3 sweep for LSU in the 200 by finishing third . Feagin was second to Hill in the 100.

Kim Carson, undefeated indoors and outdoors this year, started LSU’s final-day point avalanche by winning the 100-meter hurdles in a wind-aided 12.82 seconds. Tonya Williams of Illinois, who won the 400 hurdles on Friday, was second in 12.97.

South Carolina’s Dawn Ellerbee broke the U.S. record in the women’s hammer with a throw of 209-2-1/2.

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