Indoor Track and Field DIVISION I MEN’S
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Indoor Track and Field DIVISION I MEN’S Highlights Arkansas claims heptathlon crown in fi nal event, 20th national championship — If Arkansas needed something to kick-start its second day at the 2013 NCAA Division I Men’s Indoor Track and Field Championships, it got it early from junior Kevin Lazas. In the fi rst event to be decided on the second and fi nal day of the competition, the heptathlon, Lazas came into the concluding 1,000-me- ter race needing to fi nish within about 4.5 points of Wisconsin junior Japheth Cato to claim the title. “I gave it all I had,” Lazas said, who ended the race by falling across the fi nish line in exhaustion. “If I didn’t win, I would be mad, but there was nothing I could have done. I didn’t have anything left.” Thankfully for the Razorbacks, Lazas fi nished just 3.24 seconds behind Cato, enough to win the heptathlon by the slightest of margins (6,175 points-6,165 in the seven-event competition) and claim 10 points for his Razorbacks in the team competition. “We had a really good night last night, and I knew I had to come out and keep it going,” Lazas said. And as the day went on, the top-ranked Razorbacks indeed kept going. When they ended the night by setting a collegiate record in the 1,600-meter relay, they were simply padding the margin of victory on their fi rst NCAA indoor title since 2006. “To get this done, you need a special group of athletes,” said Arkansas head coach Chris Bucknam, who won his fi rst national champion- ship since arriving in Fayetteville in 2009. “The coaching staff had everything in place. I’m really proud of how these guys got it together. We followed the plan, and we came in here and got it done.” Arkansas, which now has a record 20 NCAA indoor championships, won the 2013 title with all-around balance. The Hogs won just three events — pole vault, heptathlon and 1,600-meter relay — but scored the most points, 74, of any NCAA indoor champion since Arkansas scored 94 in 1994. Three-time defending champions Florida fi nished second with 59 points. Perhaps the biggest individual star, however, was Arizona junior Lawi Lalang. The Eldoret, Kenya, native took the track twice in the span of about one hour and 45 minutes and won the mile and the 3,000-meter races in meet record times. “I was really prepared,” Lalang said, who won the 3,000-5,000 double at last year’s NCAA indoors. “I’ve been training well and it was just a matter of going there and doing it.” Several other individuals starred during the weekend. Earlier March 9, Virginia Tech senior Andrew Ziegler won his fi rst weight throw title with a toss of 22.46 meters (73 feet, 8¼ inches). He has won two NCAA titles outdoors in the hammer throw. Meanwhile, in the high jump, Indiana senior and Olympic bronze medalist Derek Drouin won against a dominant fi eld that included Olympic silver medalist Erik Kynard of Kansas State. Drouin’s fi nal height of 2.35 meters (7 feet, 8½ inches) was just short of the NCAA record. On the fi rst day of competition, senior Jordan Clarke, the latest shot put star out of Arizona State, easily continued his streak as NCAA championships. With a throw of 20.50 meters (67 feet, 3¼ inches), he claimed his fourth consecutive NCAA title in the event, having also won the 2011 and 2012 outdoor titles and the 2012 indoor title. The win also gave Arizona State nine of the previous 11 total NCAA shot put titles. “It feels really good right now,” Clarke said. “I’ve probably only taken three and a half weeks off in the last 12 months, so I’ve been working every day for a while. I’m happy that all of my hard work is fi nally paying off .” Only one other athlete has won fi ve consecutive NCAA shot put titles, which Clarke will have an opportunity to do at the outdoor cham- pionships in Eugene, Ore. Two others defended their NCAA titles on the fi rst day. Anthony Irwin, an Arkansas sophomore, set a personal best at 18 feet, 1¼ inches to defend his pole vault title. Texas A&M senior Ameer Webb claimed his second consecutive 200-meter title in 20.42 seconds after setting the world-leading time of 20.37 in the prelim. “It was a goal to defend my title,” Webb said. “I wasn’t going to lay down and play dead. I had to defend my title and not let it go.” Princeton won the distance medley relay to claim its fi rst national indoor title since 2002. The team of junior Michael Williams (1,200), senior Austin Hollimon (400), senior Russell Dinkins (800) and senior Peter Callahan (1,600) held off Penn State by nearly a second to fi nish in 9:33.01. 2 DIVISION I MEN’S INDOOR TRACK & FIELD—INDIVIDUAL RESULTS 2013 TEAM STANDINGS Princeton .................................................................10 Texas-Arlington ...................................................... 5 1. Arkansas ..................................................................74 23. Ole Miss...................................................................... 9 UTSA ............................................................................ 5 2. Florida .......................................................................59 Texas ............................................................................ 9 Tulsa ............................................................................ 5 3. Wisconsin ................................................................33 25. Clemson ..................................................................... 8 44. Akron .......................................................................... 4 4. Texas A&M ..............................................................30 Jackson St. ................................................................ 8 Missouri ..................................................................... 4 5. Texas Tech ...............................................................28 Michigan St. ............................................................. 8 Villanova .................................................................... 4 6. Arizona .....................................................................22 North Carolina St. .................................................. 8 47. Ohio St. ....................................................................... 3 Oregon .....................................................................22 Oral Roberts ............................................................. 8 UTEP ............................................................................ 3 8. Oklahoma St. .........................................................20 30. Indiana St. ................................................................ 7 49. Illinois .......................................................................... 2 9. Indiana .....................................................................19 Stanford ..................................................................... 7 Kentucky.................................................................... 2 Penn St .....................................................................19 32. Alabama .................................................................... 6 New Mexico ............................................................. 2 Virginia Tech. ..........................................................19 Baylor .......................................................................... 6 North Dakota St. .................................................... 2 12. Minnesota ...............................................................18 Kansas St. ................................................................. 6 UCLA ........................................................................... 2 Mississippi St. ........................................................18 Louisiana Tech ......................................................... 6 54. California ................................................................... 1 14. Auburn .....................................................................16 Loyola Chicago ....................................................... 6 Eastern Ill. .................................................................. 1 15. LSU .............................................................................15 Nebraska ................................................................... 6 George Mason ........................................................ 1 16. Arizona St. ..............................................................13 Notre Dame ............................................................. 6 Northern Ariz. ........................................................13 TCU............................................................................... 6 18. Florida St..................................................................11 40. Tennessee ................................................................. 5 Georgia.....................................................................11 Purdue ......................................................................11 21. Houston ...................................................................10 2013 INDIVIDUAL RESULTS 60-meter high hurdles: 1. Eddie Lovett, Florida, 7.50 Wisconsin, 20.00 (65-7½); 4. Richard Garrett, UTSA, 19.48 (meet record; old record 7.51, Aries Merritt, Tennessee, (63-11); 5. Bozidar Antunovic, Texas-Arlington, 19.33 (63- 60-meter dash: 1. D’Angelo Cherry, Mississippi St., 6.54; 2006); 2. Wayne Davis, Texas A&M, 7.59; 3. Spencer Adams, 5); 6. Stephen Saenz, Auburn, 19.15 (62-10); 7. Hayden 2. Marcus Rowland, Auburn, 6.55; 3. Charles Silmon,