Buchanan reaches NCAA 100 final
He’s already an All-American. Now Anthony Buchanan can turn his attention to being a national champion.
In his last collegiate appearance for Washington State, the Spokane sprinter qualified for his first national meet final with a swift run at the NCAA Track and Field Championships in Austin, Texas.
Running in the fastest of three heats of the 100 meters – won by Auburn’s Marc Burns in wind-aided 9.99 seconds – Buchanan finished third in 10.15 to advance to today’s final. His time was tied for fifth among the day’s qualifiers.
The top eight American finishers in each event earn All-American status, and with three of the nine finalists being non-U.S. citizens, Buchanan has earned that distinction regardless of the outcome. He is only the sixth Cougar in history to do so in the 100 at either meters or yards.
That took some of the sting out of the Cougars’ 4x100 relay team failing to move out of the heats. With Buchanan anchoring, the Cougs clocked 39.64 seconds for fourth in their heat, but just 12th overall.
“I wasn’t sure what to expect from Anthony after the relay prelim,” said WSU coach Rick Sloan. “I thought he got out well and it looked like he was under control and ran quite well all the way through.”
With severe rains wiping out most of Wednesday’s schedule, meet organizers revised the 100 format and eliminated Thursday’s semis – seeding the final directly out of the heats.
“I think this revised schedule has to help Anthony by condensing down to just the prelims and final,” Sloan said. “And now that we are not running in the relay final, he can rest up.”
The Cougars had more good news when javelin thrower Curt Borland continued his late-season surge and qualified for the finals with a heave of 231 feet, 1 inch – a lifetime best and the eighth-best throw of the flights.
But shot putter Tim Gehring fouled all three of his attempts and was eliminated, and long jumper Matt Mason – trying to compete with a pulled hamstring – finished 21st with a jump of 23-43/4, nearly 3 feet short of his best.
Idaho’s Mary Kamau failed to finish her heat of the women’s 1,500, and teammate Letiwe Marakurwa was ninth in her heat of the steeplechase and did not advance.
Two area hammer throwers failed to advance – Lewis and Clark graduate Britney Henry of LSU fouling all three of her attempts in the prelims, and former Community Colleges of Spokane thrower Zack Schaefer of Wyoming managing just 201-10 for 15th among the men.
In other events, Alistair Cragg wrapped up his magnificent Arkansas career by winning the 10,000 meters, his seventh collegiate title.
Arizona State freshman Jacquelyn Johnson used a burst of energy down the stretch of the 800 meters to win the heptathlon.
Johnson finished with 5,807 points. Defending champion Hyleas Fountain was second at 5,785.
In a women’s 100 heat, Lauryn Williams of Miami won in a wind-aided 10.94, the world’s fastest this year.