THEY’RE HHHHEEEERRRRREEEEE!!!!! The NCAA Division I Track & Field Championships are taking place this week in Sacramento, California. After being in Austin, Texas, last year, the NCs returned to Sacramento for a three year period.

I arrived in Sac Tuesday afternoon after a long flight from the Baltimore-Washington area (via San Diego); but it was all good. Once I touched down in Sac, it was a little difficult getting some information about how to get to Sac State since there was no specific information booth for the NCs.

The last time I was in Sac was five years ago at the 2000 Olympic Trials; so not much had changed in getting to campus. After getting settled, I attended the usual technical meeting and met with the crew chief (I’m assigned to the combined-events crew). The decathlon is the will be going off on Wednesday and Thursday while the heptathlon will be taking place on Friday and Saturday.

Wednesday (Day 1) – I arrived at Hornet Stadium around 11 am to help set up for the long jump (the second event of the decathlon). We (the combined-event crew) thought we might be needed to provide hand-times as back-up for the FAT people during the 100-meter dash (the first event of the decathlon), but we were told hand-times wouldn’t be needed.

The only problem for the day was the rain (which was highly unusual for this time of year in Sacramento) which I couldn’t seem to escape from. Every collegiate meet I’ve done this year (with the exception of Texas Relays) has been raining. Do you think someone is trying to tell me something?

Trey Hardee of Texas paid the rain no mind as he popped out to a quick lead in the 100 (which he won in 10.86) to establish an overall lead in the dec. Mustafa Abdur-Rahim of Dartmouth was right behind Hardee as they were the only decathletes to go under 11 seconds.

Moving on to the long jump, the field of 26 decathletes was divided into two groups to take advantage of both pits. Hardee’s Texas teammate, Donovan Kilmartin, set the pace by jumping 24’ 6 ½” to put himself behind Hardee in the overall event scoring. The long jump portion saw seven decathletes (including Hardee) over 23 feet. Not bad, considering it was cold and rainy.

From the long jump, we moved on to the shot put where Alleyne Lett of LSU unleashed the farthest throw of the day (49’ 1 ¾”). Hardee and Kilmartin were right next to each other throw-wise. Abdur-Rahim and Hans Uldal (Missouri) were making moves to juggle the top positions around.
The rain got a lot heavier as the high jump portion started. At one point, competition was suspended because the high jump area became a safety concern due to the amount of water that was collecting around it. However, with the help of the facility crew, we were able to clear the collecting water as best we could so the competition could resume. Kilmartin and Andrew Levin of Montana would record the day’s highest jumps as both jumped 6’ 9” and 6’ 8” respectively.

The day’s competition came to a close with the 400-meter dash. Hardee recorded the day’s fastest time as he set a personal best of 48.33.

Thursday (Day 2) dawned overcast and cool. The weather report indicated no rain was in the forecast as the sky eventually cleared up. Hardee and Abdur-Rahim were raging a battle for the decathlon title as both posted top times in the 110-meter hurdles. Hardee and Uldal were in my section of the discus throw as they popped out personal bests. The three of them (Hardee, Abdur-Rahim, and Uldal) would take it to another level as they battled for the title.

After some scares in the pole vault (due to some misses at lower heights), Hardee and Uldal got back on track in the javelin. Abdur-Rahim maintained his consistent scores in his remaining events to eventually take second overall in the decathlon. Hardee’s high scores in the hurdles, discus, and vault kept him in the lead. Not known as a 1500-meter runner, Hardee, nonetheless, maintained a high enough score to win the decathlon and set a new school record of 7,881 points. Kilmartin finished fourth.

After finishing with the decathlon, I sat and watched the men’s and women’s long jump finals. The men’s final was a repeat of last year’s as Aarik Wilson of Indiana sat in the lead for most of the competition at 25’ 11 ½”. Then Fabrice LaPierre of Texas A&M unleashed a monster jump of 26’ 9” to take the title. However, the drama wasn’t over. Iowa State’s Oliver Koenig who was the final jumper (based of the first three rounds prior to the final three rounds being re-ordered) knocked Wilson from second to third-place as he popped a jump of 26’ 3”. Talk about drama!!!!

The women’s long jump proved no big surprise as Tianna Madison of Tennessee did a Mike Tyson (knock-out blow wise) to the field with a jump of 21’ 10 ¼”. Marshavett Hooker of Texas came close with a jump of 21’ 8”, but wouldn’t jump any further as the temperature quickly cooled. Exciting, exciting, exciting is all I have to say.

South Carolina’s title aspirations for the women’s crown hiccupped as no one qualified for the 100-meter finals. However, they had qualifiers in the 200, 400, 400 hurdles, the long jump, pole vault, and the two relays. So they’re still in the team race. The Texas women seemed to be on the road to redemption as Hooker qualified for the 100-meter final. The Lady Longhorns also made it to the finals of both relays, the 400 hurdles, and the shot put. So it’s on!!!

On the men’s side, while much of the focus has been on what Florida, LSU, and Baylor will be doing in the 4 x 400 relay, Texas Tech dropped a major bomb in the qualifying round to signal they may be a force to be reckoned with in the final. Texas Tech ran the fastest time (3:01.69) in the world this year. Talk about setting up a fast final!!!!

That’s what’s happening at the NCs for now. Peace.