NCAA TRACK & FIELD CHAMPIONSHIPS
Jameson, Brown lead UM in hurdles
Posted on Sat, Jun. 14, 2008
BY MIKE MALLOY
Special to The Miami Herald
DES MOINES, Iowa --
Takecia Jameson was thrilled with third. Walter Dix was upset with fourth.
Jameson, a University of Miami freshman, finished third in the women's 400-meter hurdles Friday at the NCAA outdoor track-and-field championships.
''I've never run hurdles in this caliber of a meet,'' Jameson said. ``I just wanted to place good and better my time. My time didn't really adjust, but I'm happy with what I did.''
Jameson finished in 56.75 seconds, and fellow freshman Ti'erra Brown finished eighth in 58.47.
''This whole week I've been wrecking my own nerves, getting myself worked up,'' Brown said. ``But it's good to be a freshman and get to the finals.''
Brown also battled lower back pain, but refused to let that keep her out of the final.
Brown and Jameson have become training partners and best friends.
''I'm extremely proud of Takecia,'' Brown said. ``We met on a recruiting visit, and ever since then we've been inseparable.''
Florida State's Dix sat expressionless in the media room for about 10 minutes after placing fourth in the men's 100-meter dash. He won the event a year ago.
''I expected to win,'' Dix said, shaking his head. ``I didn't expect fourth.''
Dix was slow getting off the line and, while he had the speed to catch a few competitors, he could not run down champion Richard Thompson of Louisiana State.
The race was run after a restart, when another runner's blocks slipped, but Dix said that did not affect his race.
''I can't really say about the start until I see the tape,'' Dix said. ``Those are three great competitors that finished in front of me.''
Dix hopes to bounce back Saturday and win his second consecutive 200-meter dash title.
Ronald Forbes of Florida International set a personal-best and school record in the men's 110-meter hurdles semifinal, finishing in 13.625 seconds. He is seeded fifth in Saturday's final, and Friday's time qualified him for the Olympics, where he will represent the Cayman Islands.
Florida's Lakecia Ealey grabbed third in the women's 100-meter dash.
''When I got out, I knew I was going to be in the race,'' Ealey said. ``I saw [the leaders] at about 30 meters, and from then I just went for third. People don't really expect Florida to be in the top eight, but I had to come out here and prove them wrong.''
Ealey, a senior, was running in her fourth NCAA meet, but reached the final for the first time. ''I've been disappointed three times and I knew I couldn't go out like that,'' Ealey said.
Miami's Khadija Talley was fourth in the women's discus with a top mark of 179 feet, 7 inches. Arizona State had the top two finishers.
Florida State leads the men's field with a team score of 32, followed by LSU (31), Auburn (26) and Arizona State (18). Arizona State leads the women's field with a score of 36, followed by LSU (31), Stanford (21) and Texas Tech (20).
Weather at Drake Stadium was mild Friday, belying the conditions in other parts of the state. Thunderstorms have battered much of the state, causing extensive flooding. Part of Des Moines' downtown was flooded, forcing the Miami women's team and others to seek alternate lodging.
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