Arkansas Long Jumper Does It Again

Robert Howard, Arkansas’ “Mr. Clutch,” lived up to his nickname Thursday night.

The unflappable Howard won his eighth NCAA title, capturing the long jump for the second straight year with a wind-aided leap of 27 feet, 5-1/2 inches, the farthest in the world this year. As Howard has done so often, he won on his final attempt.

Howard’s pressure jump was a huge boost for Arkansas, which had its chance for a seventh consecutive title jolted earlier when Phil Price failed to advance to the 1,500-meter final and freshman Kenny Evans, the NCAA indoor high-jump champion, tied for fourth.

Washington State grabbed two spots in the 1,500 final, with Bernard Lagat posting the best time of 3:42.27 in the first heat and Eric Kamau placing sixth with a 3:42.78 clocking in the second.

WSU freshman Arend Watkins advanced to tonight’s semifinals in the 110-meter hurdles, finishing sixth in the first heat in 14.27 seconds.

Idaho’s Hugo Munoz placed 10th in the men’s high jump, clearing 7-0-1/2. Kansas State’s Nathan Leeper won with a career-best 7-5-1/4.

University of Colorado freshman Jennifer Smith, from Spokane’s Ferris High, qualified for the women’s 3,000-meters final, taking fourth in her heat in 9:31.08.

Twins Brad and Brent Hauser led a 1-2-3 Stanford finish in the men’s 10,000 meters. Brad was timed in 28:31.30 and Brent in 28:32.39. The sweep gave Stanford 24 points and put the Cardinal in the men’s team lead with 34. UCLA was second with 16 and Arkansas third with 15-1/2.

Nebraska’s Tressa Thompson won her second straight shot put title and broke her meet record with a heave of 61-2-1/4.

UCLA leads the women’s race with 29 points followed by BYU (26) and Southern Methodist (16).