May 29, 2004
COLLEGE STATION, Texas - Sophomore Jeremy Wariner (Grand Prairie, Texas) and junior Darold Williamson (San Antonio, Texas) continue amaze as they finished 1-2, respectively, in the 400 meters Saturday at the NCAA Midwest Regional hosted by Texas A&M at Anderson Track Complex.
Wariner clocked a 44.50 and came from behind to just edge out Williamson at 44.51 as both punched an exclamation mark on their tickets to the NCAA Championships. The times reclaim the top two spots in the country and the second and third marks in the world. Freshman Mark Teter (San Antonio, Texas) came in ninth at 48.59.
"Coach (Clyde) Hart wanted me to come in at 21.5 and I came in at 21-flat," Wariner said. "My goal coming in was to PR (personal record), I didn't care if I won or not, but I got the win anyway. When I saw Darold kick, I kicked, and I knew it was just going to be me and him."
"I thought I won," Williamson said. "We both ran excellent races. It's been a tough couple of days - it's been hot and it's been draining."
The Bears also won the 4x400-meter relay title in 3:04.22 with a team of sophomore Wil Fitts (Desoto, Texas), senior Joel Martin (Stephenville, Texas), Wariner and Williamson.
"Whenever you have Jeremy running in front of you it's fun," Williamson said. "I know I just have to relax and come out and race - he makes it easy for me. I guess we'll be the favorites going into nationals, but if we don't break three (minutes), somebody else will. It's going to be a great race."
"It's a big plus (having Fitts leadoff)," Wariner said. "He's not as strong in his first 200, but he comes in stronger than everyone else and that's key because you don't lose any time on the handoff. We've had some injuries and Joel (Martin) hasn't run second since his sophomore year, but he was great, he went out there and did what he had to do."
Sophomore Wil Fitts (Desoto, Texas) also qualified for nationals, clocking a 1:49.02 to finish fourth, as did junior Danielle Myricks (Willingboro, N.J.), who ran 59.09 in the 400-meter hurdles to finish third.
Junior Lakadron Ivery (Tyler, Texas) ran a strong anchor leg and came from behind to lead the women's 4x100, which includes sophomore Marquisha Sefas (Ft. Worth, Texas), junior April Holliness (Duncanville, Texas) and junior Elizabeth Wilson (Duncanville, Texas), to a second-place finish in 44.46. The day turned sour, however, as Ivery pulled up with an apparent hamstring injury in the finals of the 100 meters and could not run in the 200. Wilson finished eighth in the 200 at 23.48. The women's 4x400 relay of Wilson, freshman Rena Napoleon (Colorado Springs, Colo.), Myricks and sophomore Shanta Bibbs (San Antonio, Texas) ran 3:39.02 to finish fourth. Ivery would normally anchor the relay.
The men's 4x100 relay of freshman Braelon Davis (Dallas, Texas), Williamson, Wariner and sophomore Jamen Saziru (Waco, Texas) clocked 40.36 to finish sixth. Davis ran 10.56 to finish eighth in the 100 and 21.28 to finish ninth in the 200.
Senior Jordan Willmann (Llano, Texas) finished 14th with a high jump of 1.69 meters (5-6 ?) as she tunes up for the heptathlon at the NCAA Championships. Freshman Monique Ortega (El Paso, Texas) finished sixth in the 3,000 steeplechase at 10:51.41, while sophomore Angela Marvin (Kingwood, Texas) finished 14th at 11:49.89.
Both the men's and women's teams finished sixth overall at the meet. The Bears have automatically qualified seven individuals and two relays for the NCAA Outdoor Championships June 9-12 at Mike A. Myers Stadium in Austin, Texas. Final at-large selections will be made on Sunday evening.
NCAA Qualifiers
Jeremy Wariner - 400 Meters
Darold Williamson - 400 Meters
Kyle King - 5,000 Meters
Wil Fitts - 800 Meters
Chris Gillis - Long Jump
April Holliness - Long Jump
Danielle Myricks - 400 Hurdles
Jordan Willmann - Heptathlon
Women's 4x100 Relay (Sefas, Holliness, Wilson, Ivery)
Men's 4x400 Relay (Teter, Saziru, Wariner, Williamson - Fitts, Martin)
