The SMU men led all WAC teams at this year's NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Austin, Texas at Mike A. Meyers Stadium, placing fourth with 30 points. Boise State finished tied for 15th with 18 points, while Rice rounded out the WAC teams in the top 25, tying for 20th with 15 points. For the women, SMU and Boise State finished tied for 48th garnering four points each. Rice's Ryan Harlan, SMU's Hannes Hopley and Boise State's Gabriel Wallin were crowned National Champions in their respective events.
For the men nationally, Arkansas brought home the title, scoring 65.5 points, bettering Flordia who tallied 49. In third was LSU (31), with TCU, SMU, and Ohio State all tying for fourth with 30 points. For the women, UCLA edged LSU, 69-68 bringing home gold. In third was Nebraska with 58, while Texas (42) and Florida (29) round out the top five.
For the men, UTEP rounded out the field of WAC teams, placing 50th with four points. On the women's side, Fresno State and Rice tied for 65th with two points.
Complete NCAA ResultsNCAA Host Site (Texas)The 2004 WAC Outdoor Track and Field Athlete of the Year, Harlan, set a personal best at this year's NCAA Decathlon. Harlan was one of two athletes to crack 8,000 points in the decathlon, posting a mark of 8,171 earning him the gold.
"This is a great feeling," Harlan said of winning the gold. "Nothing better than winning the NCAA meet. I came in hoping to have a better 100-meter time and better long jump, but I made up for it in the shot put, where I got my PR. And the high jump was disappointing. I havent jumped that low since junior high and high school. But I came back and finished up with a good 400. It was my second-best time ever. The discus could have gone better, and the pole vault was great but my calf started cramping so I just had to finish quickly. Then in the javelin, which was my PR in the decathlon. I wish I had more in me for the 1,500, but I gave it all I could. Its exciting because I didnt have the perfect meet and I didnt do great in every event. But its exciting for the Olympic Trials because I know I have room to improve."
SMU's Hopley defended his title from a year ago, taking home the gold in the discus. His distance of 62.01 meters was almost two meters better tahn than the second-place finisher.
"I was under pressure today with this being my last NCAA meet and SMUs track program being cut, so I wanted really badly to win," Hopley said of his win. "It still feels as if it hasnt happened yet, but it will probably settle in a little later tonight. Right now, though, I have to refocus my attention on the shot put tomorrow."
Boise State's Wallin had a heave of 80.71m in the javelin to earn him the top spot. Wallin's throw is the ninth-best throw ever by a collegian.
"My previous personal best was two days ago (in the preliminaries) 77.62 meters so this was more than three meters better," Wallin said of the competition. "(Todays throw) was a surprise, but I think I was more surprised in the qualifying round. I looked at (Thursdays throw) on video and it didnt look that good, so I knew if I could get the javelin positioned well and have a good tailwind, then I could throw well today. I have been having so much trouble in injuries all year up until now. Thursday, though, it felt good. My body felt good, my shoulder, my elbow and my back all felt good. Today it felt like I was completely healthy. I expected to be a little sore today after throwing two days ago, but I felt good yesterday and I came in here and just felt really good."