Finals - Results - Saturday 06/23/01

PLACE ATHLETE NAME TEAM TIME PTS
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1 Lisa Nye NIKE-Portland 9:49.41 H
2 Elizabeth Jackson Nike 9:49.94 M
3 Kelly MacDonald Arizona State 9:55.49 M
4 Nan Evans BYU 10:05.46 M
5 Katie Sabino North Carolina St 10:05.47 M
6 Kara Ormond Asics TC 10:06.78 M
7 Rebecca Bennion Weber State 10:07.56 M
8 Desiree Owen Unattached 10:11.45 M
9 Jennifer Michel Western State (CO) 10:11.65 M
10 Mollie DeFrancesco James Madison 10:12.24 M
11 Tonya Dodge Syracuse Chargers 10:17.61 M
12 Laura Turner Stanford 10:23.60
13 Deanna Hadley San Deigo TC 10:24.20
14 Melissa Bouren Unattached 10:36.58

By: Adam Jude
Source: Oregon Daily Emerald

All hail Title IX.

Thanks in large part to the 1972 legislation, which mandates gender equality in education and sports, NCAA female track athletes are now, like men, allowed to run around a circle, jump over a hurdle every 100 meters while soaking their feet in a small pond.

And after nearly two miles of running, jumping and bathing, the first person to cross the finish line gets the glory of an NCAA championship.

“I knew [winning] wasn’t going to be a given,” Brigham Young’s Elizabeth Jackson said after securing her place in the record books as the first champion of the women’s steeplechase Friday at Hayward Field. “If I was going to win, I knew I was going to have to work for it. All of the girls had really good times.”

Jackson broke her own American record in the 3,000-meter race with a time of 9:49.73. She also ran the fourth fastest steeplechase of all time.

“I think [the steeplechase] is still progressing,” Jackson said. “We’re going to see times in the 30s and 40s before too long.”

Rebecca Bennion, a sophomore at Weber State, finished second (9:54.84) and Arizona State’s Kelly MacDonald, a Tualatin native, (9:55.87) was third.

“I really enjoy it,” MacDonald said of running the steeplechase for just the fourth time, all in the last four weeks. “It gives me something to focus on besides counting laps. It’s more exciting. You have to have a mental toughness more than physical.”

Jackson said her legs were tired Thursday, a day after running a 10:11.94 preliminary. She questioned whether the NCAA should keep the preliminary time trials.

“I was so nervous before the race,” Jackson said. “I was like, ‘I don’t think I can do it.’”

The men’s steeplechase was tight throughout and came down to the final hurdle. Daniel Lincoln of Arkansas took the trophy in 8:42.31. Weber State’s Jeremy Tolman (8:42.85) was second and Colorado’s Steve Slattery (8:42.91) was third.

Ohio State’s Ian Connor was in the first pack heading into the final pass of the water pit and would likely have placed in the top three, but he fell in the pit and injured his leg. Connor was greeted with a standing ovation from the crowd as he limped the final 150 meters.

Source: New York Times

By JAMES DUNAWAY

Elizabeth Jackson of Brigham Young, a former professional ballet candidate, set an American record today in winning the first women’s 3,000-meter steeplechase held at the NCAA track and field championships in Eugene, Ore.

Jackson won by 30 meters in 9 minutes 49.73 seconds, breaking the mark of 9:55.63 she had set last month.

Jackson’s time is the fourth fastest ever run. The world record in the relatively new event for women is 9:40.20 by Cristina Casandra of Romania.

Bayano Kamani and Michael Smith of Baylor finished first and second in the men’s 400-meter hurdles. Kimani, a senior from Houston, regained the title he won in 1999 and missed winning by two-hundredths of a second last year. His 48.99 is the fastest by an American this year.

Otikule Lekote, a South Carolina sophomore from Botswana, never trailed in winning the men’s 800 meters in 1:46.68. In the women’s 800, Brigita Langerholc of Southern California and Slovenia won by 12 meters in 2:01.61.