News01 May 2004


Sanya Richards qualifies well - Big 12 Conference

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Sanya Richards of the USA in the 400m heats (© Getty Images)

Norman,  Oklahoma, USA   The first two days of the Big 12 Conference, this annual 12 universities' student athletics competition were taken up chiefly with field events and qualifying rounds in the track events (29 - 30 April).

Much of the 'news' which  emerged  concerned performances which surprised by their not living up to expectations.  The University of  Texas' first-year star decathlete,  Donovan Kilmartin  (7,729 four weeks ago) had won the 100, the long jump  and the high jump and finished a close second in the shot here,  averaging a strong 840 points per event; then he suddenly withdrew from the competition for no explained reason. 

In Kilmartin's absence the Decathlon was taken by Finland's 1998 World Junior Champion Aki Heikkinen (PB 8188pts, 2000) who has been beset with injuries for a number of years. His winning total was 7559pts.

Another shocker came from Nebraska's Becky Breisch, who had thrown the discus 62.61m just a week ago. Today she fouled three times.  And the favorite in the heptathlon,  JaNelle  Wright,  dropped out after all three of her javelin throws landed flat.

Good shot from Myerscough

The best field event mark was a 20.66m shot put victory by Brit Carl Myerscough, who competes in the U.S. for Nebraska.

Richards qualifies well

On the track, there were sharp qualifying performances by Sanya Richards of Texas, leader in the women's 200 at 22.73, and several male sprinters: Antiguan Brendan Christian of Texas, who led the 100/200 qualifiers with 10.39/20.61 and DaBryan Blanton of Oklahoma,  right behind him at 10.43/20.62; and Baylor University's 400 aces,  Jeremy Wariner and Darold Williamson, who led the 400 qualifiers in 46.02 and 46.33 eased up.

Eldridge impresses

But the performer who impressed this observer most was 18-year-old Jessica Eldridge of the  host University of Oklahoma.  Miss Eldridge, who comes from Broken Arrow,  Oklahoma,  led her 800-metre qualifying heat from start to finish, knocked nearly two seconds off her PB, and was barely breathing hard at the finish (2:06.86). She'll bear watching closely in the final,  the first major  race of her university career.

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