NCAA Track & Field Championships - Day One Recap

SACRAMENTO -- Following a day of personal-bests, the Cougars qualified six athletes for further competition at the 2003 NCAA Track & Field Championships in Sacramento. Following is an event-by-event recap of the first of four days of competition at the National Championships.

800m (Women)

In the women's 800-meter qualifying round, junior Aneta Lemiesz finished second in the third heat to automatically qualify for one of the 16 spots for Thursday's preliminary round. Lemiesz, who entered the race with a career-best of 2:05.30 and ranked 15th overall, clipped her best time by over two-tenths of a second to qualify.

"I knew I had to run hard, but I also needed to run smart," Lemiesz said after the race. "I know, in order to qualify for the finals, I'm going to have to run even faster--another personal best. I ran my personal best today, so I know I can do it again tomorrow."

Lemiesz, who turned in a 2:05.02 on Thursday, will enter Thursday's preliminary round as the sixth-ranked competitor.

"She ran the race to near perfection," Poole said. "She followed the race strategy exactly as Coach Shane had outlined for her. Because she followed the strategy so well, she was able to set a personal-best, but still save some energy for tomorrow. She is such a great athlete and is capable of getting better with each race, which is exactly what she will have to do."

800m (Men)

With a little luck, junior Chad Simkins advanced to Thursday's preliminary round by just over one-tenth of a second. Simkins, a junior from Marysville, Wash., captured the 16th and final at-large qualifying time after finishing fifth in the second of four heats with a time of 1:49.49. In each heat, the top three finishers earned an automatic spot in the prelims, followed by the next four fastest times.

Simkins looked strong after the first 400 meters, holding on to second place after running the first lap in just under 54 seconds. The two pre-race favorites, Jonathan Johnson of Texas Tech and Jesse O'Connell of Georgetown, made their moves on the back stretch, as Simkins dropped to fifth place.

In the following heat, two of the pre-race favorites, Alabama's Peter Etoot and Kentucky's Chad Johnson, collided at the 600-meter mark. Etoot, who had taken the lead, cut too quickly in front of Johnson and was tripped up. As Etoot was falling to the track, Johnson was forced to leap over Etoot, allowing several athletes to pass the top-two runners. While Etoot was unable to finish, Johnson took fourth in his heat in a time of 1:50.45, and finished 18th overall in the qualifying round, and clearing a spot for Simkins.

"I've said it before, and I'll keep saying it," Robison said. "Not only do you have to be good in this sport, you have to get lucky. Today, because of the fall in the third heat, Chad got a little lucky. Clearly, if those two guys would have been able to finish, Chad would not be advancing to the prelims.

"The thing is with Chad, you can never count him out. He makes this fun because he is one of those guys who believes he can run with anyone of these guys. And, he can. He's always ready, and he's always giving it everything he has. As a coach, you can't ask anymore from an athlete."

In both the men's and women's 800-meter races, the top three competitors in Thursday's preliminary round, in addition to the next four fastest times, will advance to Saturday's finals.

POLE VAULT

In the pole vault, as expected, both Robison Pratt and Trent Powell advanced to Friday's final round after clearing 16-10.75. Both Pratt and Powell passed at the opening height of 16-04.75. Needing to be one of 17 competitors alive in the competition in order to advance to the final round, Powell cleared the final height (16-10.75) on his first attempt. Pratt, the pre-meet favorite, failed to clear the bar on his opening attempt, but managed to get back on track on his second attempt, clearing the height with ease.

"It really couldn't have turned out any better for us," Coach Robison said. "In these types of competition, you don't want to exhaust a lot of energy, and save yourself for the finals. On the other hand, you don't want to goof around and get left behind. As it turned out, Powell only had to vault once and Pratt only had to jump twice.

"There are so many things that can happen in a competition like this. All you want to do is advance, and do without having to jump all day long. It takes a different kind of preparation when you have to vault in a qualifying round. You never know if you are going to have to prepare to jump once, twice or five times. Today worked out well because the guys didn't have to jump all day long. That creates a big advantage heading in to the finals on Friday."

Both Pratt and Powell will compete in the final round of competition on Friday, June 13, beginning at 6 p.m. (PDT).

DECATHLON

As the Cougars' lone competitor in the decathlon, junior Curtis Pugsley turned in a respectable performance in the first five events of the 10-event compeition. A native of Park Valley, Utah, Pugsley started the day with an eighth-place finish in the 100 meters, battling a stiff headwind to finish second in his heat with a time of 11.21. His performance was good enough for 814 points.

In the second event, the long jump, Pugsley got better with each jump. When it was all said and done, he had a final mark of 22-10.00 to finish ninth in the competition, and pick up another 804 points.

Entering the third event, the shot put, Pugsley was in 10th place with 1,618 points--just five points from the ninth-place competitor, Shelton Davis of USC. In fact, as evidence of a close competition, there was only an 84-point difference between the third-place competitor and Pugsley.

In the shot put, Pugsley gave up some ground on the leaders after picking up just 550 points to finish 11th in the second flight of competition. Like the long jump, each effort was better than the last, finishing with a final put of 36-04.00. Pugsley dropped from 10th to 13th place following the shot put, but looked to make up ground in the final two events of the day--the high jump and 400 meters.

In the fourth event of the day, Pugsley finished in a three-way tie for second place in the high jump, clearing 6-08.75--his season-best. The height was good for 850 points and catapulted Pugsley from 13th place all the way up to fifth place.

In the final event of the day, Pugsley finished the 400m in a time of 51.16 to pick up 762 points. Pugsley, who entered the competition as the 26th and final qualifier, finished the day in ninth place overall with 3,849 points.

"Hey, he's in great shape for tomorrow," Robison said. "He's put himself in a position to finish as an All-American. It should come down to the pole vault, and if he does well, as we expect him to do, he will be in great shape to pick up some team points, and earn All-America honors in the process."

LONG JUMP (Men)

Senior Aron Szmuda recorded a mark of 24-02.50 in the long jump to finish seventh in the first of three preliminary flights. Szmuda's mark was good enough for a 23rd-place finish in the event, but failed to qualify for the final round on Friday. Szmuda will compete again on Thursday in the preliminary round of the triple jump. He will enter the competition ranked 16th overall.

4x100m RELAY (Men)

Despite a season-best time of 40.14 in the 4x100-meter relay, the foursome of Cody Fonnesbeck, Nate Soleberg, Matt Nielsen and Paul Smith failed to advance to the finals in the 4x100-meter relay. The BYU team finished fourth in the second of three heats.

TCU, the winner of heat two, set a Hornet Stadium record with a time of 39.13. The record lasted all of two minutes as LSU clipped the mark in the third heat with a time of 38.84. LSU and TCU will enter Friday's final as the top two team in the competition, respectively.

3,000m STEEPLECHASE (Women)

Following a pre-determined race strategy to a tee, Provo native Kassi Andersen qualified for the finals in the steeplechase after finishing third in the first of two heats in the event. With sound technique and a conservative strategy as the main goals on Wednesday, Andersen finished the race with a time of 10:08.42. Idaho's Letiwe Marakurwa won the heat in a time of 10:03.76.

"Coach [Patrick] Shane wanted me to hit a 10:10," Andersen said. "For the most part, I was able to stay on pace. The race went exactly how Coach said it would. Technically, I just wanted to focus on the hurdles and the water jump, stay out of the way, and let everyone else run hard. For the most part, I was able to do that."

Junior Lisa Antonelli recorded a time of 10:17.50 to finish seventh in the second heat. Out of contention for an automatic bid to the finals, Antonelli earned the third of four at-large invitations. Senior Nan Kennard finished 11th in the second heat and failed to qualify for the finals.

Andersen and Antonelli will compete in the finals on Friday, beginning at 7:50 p.m. (PDT). The duo will contend for the Cougars' third straight NCAA Steeplechase title. Elizabeth Jackson won the event in 2001 in Eugene, Oregon, and Michaela Manova captured the title in 2002 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

3,000m STEEPLECHASE (Men)

In the Cougars' most bitter-sweet moment of the day, sophomore Matt Adams ran a personal-best in the 3,000 meter by over three seconds. However, Adams, a native of Heber, Utah, finished 10th in the second heat with a time of 8:44.42 and 15th overall--just one place away from an at-large invitation to Friday's finals. Despite his personal-best performance, Adams missed the finals by just under one second.

"You've got to feel bad for Matt," Robison said. "However, he ran a great race, and PR'd by three seconds. That's incredible. You just can't be upset with a guy when he PR's by three seconds. That's the kind of thing that will keep him going through the year and make him that much more competitive next season."

400m HURDLES (Men)

After recording a time of 50.75 in the 400-meter hurdles, good enough for a third-place finish and an automatic invitation to Thursday's prelims, junior Greg Flint learned he had been disqualified and would be unable to continue in the competition. The judges ruled Flint failed to clear the sixth hurdle with his trail leg.

JAVELIN (Women)

Fighting the elements, junior Missy Wood managed a throw of 134-05 on her first attempt, but fouled on her final two throws. As the temperature dropped into the low 50s, with chilly wind gusts up to 25-30 miles per hour, many of the competitors were unable to secure a good grip on the javelin. Wood finished eighth in her heat, 24th overall and failed to qualify for the final round of competition.

"The weather played a big factor in the competition," Poole said. "After Missy's first throw, we were asking what was going on. It was obvious all the competitors were having difficulty hanging on to the javelin. Missy just couldn't get a good grip because of the cold temperatures."

5,000m (Women)

Near the time most people are settling down to watch the late-night news, senior Katie Martin began what would be the final race of her stellar career at BYU. Martin, who graduated in April, finished 10th in the second heat of the 5,000 meters on Wednesday, completing the course in a time of 16:43.39.

The top five competitors in each of two heats, along with the next six fastest times qualified for the finals, leaving Martin just three spots from a qualifying position.

"Katie has been a fighter, a real competitive individual throughout her career," Poole said. "We were hoping she would have made the finals, but it just didn't turn out that way. Nevertheless, we are very proud of her, the way she has represented herself and the university. She's a fine individual, and has accomplished some great things, both on the track and off."

The NCAA Track & Field Championships will resume again on Thursday, beginning with the women's pole vault competition at 10 a.m. (PST). The Cougars' first competitor of the day will be Matt Nielsen in the 200 meters, scheduled for 10:40 a.m. (PDT).

2003 Track & Field Championships
Day 1 Results
ATHLETE               EVENT      FINISH
Aneta Lemiesz, Jr.    800m       2nd, Heat 3 (2:05.02*) - advance to prelims.
Chad Simkins, Jr.     800m       5th, Heat 2 (1:49.49*) - advance to prelims.
Robison Pratt, Fr.    PV         1st (16-10.75) - advance to finals
Trent Powell, So.     PB         1st (16-10.75) - advance to finals
Aron Szmuda, Sr.      LJ         23rd (24-02.5) - did not advance 
4x100 Relay                      4th, Heat 2 (40.14) - did not advance
Kassi Andersen, So.   Steeple    3rd, Heat 1 (10:08.42) - advance to finals
Lisa Antonelli, Jr.   Steeple    7th, Heat 2 (10:17.50) - advance to finals
Nan Kennard, Sr.      Steeple    11th, Heat 2 (10:35.43) - did not advance
Matt Adams, So.       Steeple    10th, Heat 2 (8:44.42*) - did not advance
Missy Wood, Jr.       Jav.       8th, Flight 1 (134-05) - did not advance
Greg Flint, Jr.       400 Hur.   3rd, Heat 5 (DQ) - did not advance
Katie Martin, Sr.     5,000m     10th, Heat 2 (16:43.39) - did not advance
Curtis Pugsley, Jr.   Decath.    Event will conclude on Thursday (Currently in 9th)
* - Personal Best
All times Pacific Daylight