Collegiate stars ready to shine at NCAA Championships
Posted June 7th, 2007 at 8:30 AM by Jamal Walker
Section: News & Results, Track & Field
Several up-and-coming stars of track and field are set to shine as the 2007 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships get underway. The Florida State men’s team and Auburn’s women’s team will look to defend their 2006 team titles at the Championships, which began yesterday and run through Saturday, June 9, at Sacramento State University in Sacramento, Calif.
Individuals to watch include 2006 NCAA 200-meter champion Walter Dix, who set a collegiate record in the event with his world-leading personal best time of 19.69 seconds at the NCAA East Regional Championships. It was the seventh fastest 200m of all time. Dix will look to claim titles in the 100m and 200m.
In 2005, Dix won the NCAA 100m and finished fourth behind Tyson Gay, Wallace Spearmon and Xavier Carter in the 200m. Last year, Dix placed second in the 100m and won both the indoor and outdoor titles in the 200m. At this year’s indoor meet, Dix won titles in the 60m and 200m.
Natasha Hastings, a junior from South Carolina, also brings a world-leading time into the national meet. She ran a 50.23 in the 400m at the NCAA East Regional, which is the third-fastest collegiate women’s 400m all-time. Hastings boasts three of the top eight 400m times in the world this year. Hastings blazed to a collegiate record in the 400m at the indoor national meet, winning in 50.80. Her nearest NCAA competitor entering the national meet is more than 1.1 seconds behind.
Three other athletes who have set collegiate records this season will try to win their respective events. Lindsey Anderson of Weber State ran a record time of 9:39.95 in the women’s 3000m steeplechase.
Texas Tech’s Sally Kipyego will run for two championships. She owns the collegiate record in the women’s 10,000m (31:56.72), and also enters the meet with the fastest time of the season in the 5,000m (15:19.72).
Galen Rupp of Oregon State has the nation’s best time in the men’s 10,000m this season. His time of 27:33.48 is the fastest ever run in the event by an American-born collegian. Rupp finished second in the event at last year’s NCAA outdoor championships.
The women’s hammer competition will feature collegiate-record holder Jenny Dahlgren of Georgia. The senior from Buenos Aires, Argentina, threw 72.94meters/239 feet 4 inches at the Spec Towns Invitational in April. Southern Illinois junior Brittney Riley is right behind Dahlgren with the second- and third-farthest all-time collegiate throws of 72.51m/237-10 and 72.32m/237-3. Riley also won the 2007 NCAA indoor title in the 20-pound weight throw. Her throw of 25.56m/83-10.25 was the longest in the history of the event.
For more information and complete results from the 2007 NCAA Div. I Outdoor Track and Field Championships, visit www.ncaasports.com.
Via: USATF
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Tags: Brittney Riley, college sports, collegiate, D I, DI, Division I, galen rupp, Jenny Dahlgren, Lindsey Anderson, Natasha Hastings, ncaa, NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships, NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships, Sally Kipyego
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