# #

2014 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships Day 3 recap: Arizona's Lawi Lalang runs away with eighth NCAA title, sets meet record

by Taylor Dutch
Jun 13, 2014
Eric Evans

The Pac-12's domination of the NCAA Track and Field Championships in Eugene continued on Friday with an all-out battle between Arizona's Lawi Lalang and Oregon's Edward Cheserek in the men's 5k. Their 1-2 finish was the highlight of the day, and sweet revenge for Lalang who lost to Cheserek indoors at this distance earlier this year. On Friday, the Wildcat senior defended his title in the event from a year ago. 

The battle started in earnest with a hard kick from Cheserek at the 200m mark, but Lalang turned on the jets in the final 100 to bring home the ‘W’ for Arizona. Cheserek turned in a personal best by 30 seconds with a time of 13:18.76 just behind Lalang’s 13:18.36, a meet record.

In the team competitions, the Oregon men continue to lead with 53 points, well ahead of Florida's 28. The Oregon women also lead with 43 points, but Texas A&M is on their tail with 41. Here's a full breakdown of the day 3 action in Eugene:

Arizona

Eight NCAA titles for Lawi Lalang, and he’s not even finished this weekend! The Wildcat established a hard pace from the beginning of the men's 5k final to defend his NCAA title against 10k champ Edward Cheserek. Just to break it down, he ran a 4:12 last mile and a 2:01 last 800 to hold off Cheserek in the final steps to run 13:18.36, which was also a meet record. Not too shabby.

Nick Ross earned his fourth first-team All-American honor today with a third place finish in the men’s high jump with a mark of 7-21/2. He is the first ever Wildcat to earn four in the event.

Oregon

It’s not often you see an explosive kick in the 800 that leaves the entire field in the dust, but Laura Roesler did exactly that on Friday. In what looked like a completely effortless race, Roesler made a hard move with 200m to go to take the NCAA title in 2:01.22.

After a sluggish start out of the blocks, sophomore Jenna Prandini come back and took third in the final of the women’s 100m in a time of 11.42, behind NCAA champion Remona Burchell of Alabama (11.25) and Morolake Akinosun of Texas (11.33).

Senior Mike Berry nearly edged out Deon Lendore of Texas A&M in the 400m, but fell short in the final steps. Lendore has run the third fastest-time in the world this season and remains undefeated in the event. Just to put in perspective how close this was, they finished in 45.02 and 45.07, respectively.

Phyllis Francis picked up another runner-up finish for the Ducks in the final of the women’s 400m with a personal best time of 50.59, just behind world-leader Courtney Okolo of Texas (50.23).

Senior Sammie Clark finished 19th overall in the women’s pole vault with a height of 12-91/2.

In addition to Cheserek's 2nd in the 5k, the Ducks racked up huge points in the event with third and fourth-place finishes from Trevor Dunbar and Eric Jenkins. Ducks always fly together.

Arizona State

It was a memorable day for Bryan McBride who won the high jump with a 7-5 3/4, also his personal best. The Pac-12 runner-up was the only athlete to clear the height. McBride nearly broke the Arizona State school record on his final attempt, but barely missed.

California

In his first and final NCAA outdoor championship, senior Derrick White finished 17th-overall in the men’s discus with a throw of 184-7.

Colorado

In a dramatic upset, Michigan State’s Leah O’Connor responded with a hard kick in the final lap of the women’s 3,000m steeplechase to take down defending NCAA champion Shalaya Kipp. Kipp faded to fifth in the final 150m to finish in a time of 9:48.90.

Stanford

Luke Lefebure added another All-American honor to his resume with a sixth-place finish in the final of the men’s 800m in a time of 1:47.64. This was Lefebure’s first individual All-American honor after contributing to Stanford’s 2011 and 2012 distance medley relays.

Sophomore Claudia Saunders made her presence known with a second-place finish in the final of the women’s 800m in a time of 2:02.92. All-American Amy Weissenbach finished sixth place in a time of 2:04.16.

Junior Joe Rosa turned in an impressive performance in the men’s 5k with a seventh-place finish in a time of 13:31 for first-team All-American honors.

UCLA

Natasha Kolbo represented for the Bruins today with a 13th-place finish in the women’s pole vault and second-team All-America honors. This was Kolbo’s first NCAA outdoor final.

Junior Alexis Walker completed the heptathlon with 5,116 points for a 19th-place finish in her first NCAA outdoor final in the event.

It was a disappointing day for defending NCAA champion Julian Wruck as the Bruin came out with a runner-up finish in the men’s discus behind Hayden Reed of Alabama. Wruck was in the lead until Reed’s final throw that gave him a mark of 205-10. Wruck finished with a mark of 205-3. His teammate Matthew Kosecki finished behind him in 12th-place overall.

USC

Aaron Brown earned another All-American honor with a third-place finish in the men’s 100m final with a blazing time of 10.07, a season’s best for the senior. He was barely edged out by freshman phenom Trayvon Bromell of Baylor (9.97) and Dentarius Locke of Florida State (10.02). Brown is the first Trojan to score in the men’s 100m back-to-back years since Jeff Laynes in 1992-93. The Trojan’s run is far from over though as he will make his mark in the 4x100m relay final and the 200m final.

Tynia Gaither followed Brown with an eighth-place finish in the women’s 100m final, her first All-American honor as a Trojan. She earned second-team All-American honors last year at Georgia before transferring to USC.

Junior Melia Cox turned in an 11th-place overall finish in the women’s triple jump to earn second-team All-America honors with a mark of 42-0. She finished 11th at the 2013 NCAA outdoor finals as well. Her teammate Kemi Olonade followed behind her in 24th place overall. This was Olonade’s first NCAA outdoor final.

Washington

Junior Derrick Daigre competed in his first NCAA outdoor final with a eighth-place finish in the final of the men’s 800m, earning one point for the Huskies to cap off a great season that saw his first Pac-12 title.

After running a personal best two days ago to qualify for the final of the women’s 3,000m steeplechase, Liberty Miller earned second-team All-America honors with a 10th-place finish in 10:03, another personal best.

Diamara Planell Cruz earned second-team All-America honors with a 10th-place finish in the women’s pole vault with a height of 13-71/4.

 

For full results of the 2014 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships visit NCAA.com.

Related News & Videos