Relay Unit Takes Gold For WSU
The Washington State University men’s track team is fourth in the Division I team standings after the first day of competition at the NCAA Indoor Championships at the RCA Dome. WSU’s 18 points follow Arkansas (31), Stanford (21.5) and Clemson (20).
The Cougars men’s distance medley relay team won in a world indoor best and school-record time of 9:29.54. The squad of Eric Kamau, Guillermo Macias, Rasto Kiplangat and Bernard Lagat erased their school-record and 1997 NCAA Indoor Championship second-place time of 9:34.03.
WSU tallied 10 team points as the Cougar men won the race that is composed of legs of 1,200 meters, 400 meters, 800 meters and 1,600 meters. They outdistanced Arkansas, which was second at 9:30.45.
Junior thrower Ian Waltz of Post Falls placed fourth in the men’s shot put with a personal-best toss of 63 feet, 5-1/2 inches. South Carolina’s Brad Snyder won with a throw of 66-4-1/4.
WSU freshman Arend Watkins added three points to the Cougars men’s first-day tally with a sixth-place finish in the men’s 55-meter hurdles. Watkins’ time of 7.33 seconds was only slightly better than his preliminary time of 7.34.
Larry Wade of Texas A&M won in 7.11. Watkins was seventh over-all after the preliminaries. Only eight runners advanced to the finals.
All six Cougar men earned All-America honors.
The lone Cougar woman at the indoor championships, Francesca Green of Kennewick, finished 15th in the women’s long jump with a mark of 19-4-3/4. The event was won by Pittsburgh’s Trecia Smith with a leap of 21-6-1/4.
Two Cougars will compete today, senior Hiliary Mawindi in the men’s triple-jump preliminary and final and Bernard Lagat will hit the track again in the men’s 3,000-meter final.
Arkansas freshman Kenny Evans, the nation’s leading scholastic high jumper last year, gave the Razorbacks an unexpected boost toward their 14th indoors title in 15 years.
Even though the 18-year-old Evans was the Southeastern Conference champion, he was considered a long shot, ranking only 13th in the field of 16 competitors. But he soared a career-best 7 feet, 6 inches.
Arkansas also has won six consecutive outdoor titles.
The women’s competition also produced two surprise winners, both from Texas, and propelled the Longhorns into the lead over five-time defending champion LSU. The Longhorns, the 1988 and 1990 champions, had 20 points. Providence was second with 14 and LSU tied for third with Auburn and Wisconsin with 13 each.
, DataTimes