Anderson speeds to NCAA crown

DES MOINES, Iowa – Washington State University freshman Jeshua Anderson can add another item to his long list of accomplishments for his first year of college: NCAA champion.

Anderson ran a lifetime-best and school-record time of 48.69 seconds to edge Auburn University senior Rueben McCoy for the NCAA title in the 400-meter hurdles Friday to highlight the third day of the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships at Drake Stadium.

Anderson, the 2007 prep boys 300 hurdles record-holder, previously had won the intermediate hurdles at the Texas Relays, in addition to the Pacific-10 Conference and NCAA West Regional titles.

On Friday, Anderson came from behind and leaned at the finish line to hold off McCoy by .02 seconds.

“This is a blessing. I thank God for everything he’s done for me,” Anderson told CBS television commentator Dwight Stones following the race. “I haven’t been able to race against fast people so just being in this race is a blessing. I set my goals high and for my collegiate year I accomplished what I wanted to and that was to be a champion at the NCAA Championships.”

Anderson’s effort was the fifth fastest this year for an American man and the third best by a collegian. His next competition is the U.S. Junior Championships Friday and next Saturday in Columbus, Ohio.

Elsewhere, Cougars senior McKenzie Garberg won All-American status for the second and third times with a fifth-place finish in the women’s discus and a sixth-place finish in the women’s hammer.

Garberg threw the hammer 210 feet, 3 inches, eclipsing her previous personal best of 204-9 by 51/2 feet. In the discus, Garberg repeated as an All-American, throwing 174-10 on her sixth and final throw.

Sophomore Trent Arrivey earned All-America status with a ninth-place finish in the high jump (7-1/4).

The University of Idaho had two All-American efforts.

Senior Marcus Mattox threw the hammer 214-6, the second-best throw of his career, to finish ninth.

Fellow senior Russ Winger was fifth in the discus with a throw of 187-7.

Today, Winger will compete in the shot put finals, an event for which he has won four previous All-America certificates.

Other local athletes competing were WSU senior Jon Jeffreys (11th in men’s javelin, 207-3), WSU freshman Ebba Jumgmark (ninth in women’s high jump, 5-93/4) and Eastern Washington sophomore Mattie Bridgmon (13th in women’s 5,000 meters, 16:35.28).

Trinidad had a big night at the championships.

Richard Thompson and Kelly-Ann Baptiste, LSU seniors from the small Caribbean nation, won the men’s and women’s 100.

Thompson eased to victory in 10.12, while Baptiste earned her long-awaited NCAA 100 crown, bursting ahead over the last 40 meters to win in 11.20.

The races gave both LSU teams a boost in the team race. The Tigers scored 16 points in the men’s 100 and 13 in the women’s race.

The LSU women also got a victory in the 400 hurdles, with Nickiesha Wilson edging defending champion Nicole Leach of UCLA in 54.45.

Florida State led in its bid for a third straight men’s team title with 32 points.

LSU was second with 31 but had only two athletes competing in today’s final day of competition. Auburn was third with 26.

Defending champion Arizona State, with a 1-2 finish in the discus, led in the women’s standings with 36 points. LSU had 31 and Stanford 21.

Jenny Barringer of Colorado broke her collegiate record in the women’s 3,000 steeplechase by a whopping 4.75 seconds.

Barringer, who was born in Webster City, Iowa, but moved to Oviedo, Fla., smiled as she sprinted the final 80 meters to win in 9 minutes, 29.20 seconds, the second fastest by an American in the event and tied for fifth fastest in the world this year.

She said she looked at the time and thought, “How could I do that and feel so good the whole time?”

Barringer, the youngest member of the U.S. team at the world championships in 2007, broke the college mark of 9:33.95 she set last September at the DecaNation Championships in Paris. It was the fastest in the event in the United States.

The American record of 9:28.75 was set by Lisa Galaviz in Belgium last year.

Defending women’s champion Arizona State got a 1-2 finish and 20 points overall in the discus. Sarah Stevens won with a mark of 184-2 on her final throw. Teammate Tai Battle was second at 182-8, with defending champion Jessica Pressley of Arizona State in seventh.

Arizona State’s Jacquelyn Johnson led after the first day of the heptathlon with 3,606 points. Liz Roehrig of Minnesota was a close second at 3,581.

Sally Kipyego of Texas Tech set a meet record in the women’s 5,000 at 15:15.08.

Texas freshman Maston Wallace won the pole vault with a leap of 17-6 1/2 . It was the lowest winning vault since 1979. There was a three-way tie for second. Yavgeniy Olhovsky of Virginia Tech, Nick Frawley of Air Force, and Jared O’Connor of Washington all cleared 17-2 3/4 .

Georgia sophomore Chris Hill won the men’s javelin at 257-3.