Boise, Idaho (June 4) - Day three of competition at the 1999 NCAA Track and Field Championships at Bronco Stadium/Ed Jacoby Track saw the most University of Arizona athletes compete than any day of the meet. It also proved to be a very successful day for the Wildcats. Arizona finished the day with two second place finishes, and three All-America honors.
Wildcat freshman Patrick Nduwimana led down the home-stretch, but was out-kicked at the finish by Missouri junior Derrick Peterson in the final of the 800m. Nduwimana finished second in 14:77.22 and earned All-America honors.
Brown's Trinity Gray took the lead early in the competition, but Nduwimana overtook him with 200 meters remaining. Nduwimana, who finished seventh in the event at last year's NCAA meet, built a three-meter lead at the top of the homestretch over Gray, Peterson and Southern Methodist's Roman Oravec. Nduwimana, the '99 Pacific-10 Conference champion held onto the lead until Peterson passed him with less than 10 meters remaining. Peterson finished in 1:46.97 to Nduwimana's 1:47.22, while Oravec was third in 1:47.66. Gray faded all the way to sixth place in 1:48.56.
"That guy from Brown (Gray) always takes it out fast like that, and so I just wanted to stay behind him in the first 600 meters," Nduwimana said. "It was good to stay behind because I did not get tired at the end, and I still had a lot of kick left. You have to give a lot of credit to him (Peterson), though. He has a great kick and is very strong in the end. I felt very strong going into the last 100 meters, but I got a little too tired in the last 15."
Arizona associate head coach Fred Harvey, Nduwimana's coach, added, "We wanted the race to go out in about 51 seconds for the first lap, and four of the guys did (including Nduwimana). Patrick made a great effort at winning it, but Peterson's kick was little too much for him. The key to the race was going to be to take as much out of him (Peterson) as possible, but we were just not able to take out quite enough."
Arizona picked up another second place Friday when sophomore Esko Mikkola, plagued by injury all season, had his best throw of the season on his second throw of the javelin competition. Mikkola, the 1998 champion, threw 252-0 (76.81m) to place second and earn All-America honors for the second straight year. Mikkola, the two-time Pac-10 champ in the event, beat Scott Russell of Kansas by only one centimeter to win the event.
Mikkola was topped only by Texas-El Paso sophomore Mathi Nahri's throw of 261-7 (79.74m), only Nahri's third throw of the meet. All of the competitors were hampered by a strong wind blowing in the face of the athletes. The wind picked up after the first three throws, and no athletes improved upon their early marks in the finals. Today's competition was only the third of the season for Mikkola, who battled a heel/arch injury in his right foot throughout the season.
Fellow Wildcat sophomore Ola Larsen finished ninth in the javelin competition with a throw of 226-0 (68.90m) on his second throw of the meet. Larsen had two fouls on his first two throws of the finals, and he did not improve on his last throw.
Wildcat junior Jeff Dutoit cleared only his first height in the pole vault, but it was enough to finish in a tie for seventh with a mark of 16-10 3/4 (5.15m). A number of vaulters, including Dutoit, were seriously affected by a cross-wind, which knocked numerous athletes out of the competition without clearing a height.
Arizona senior Abdi Abdirahman closed his collegiate career by earning his eighth All-America honors, finishing ninth in the men's 5,000m. Abdirahman finished in 14:11.15, while Washington State's Bernard Lagat won the competition in 14:01.09. Abdirahman took a 20-meter lead with seven laps remaining, but fell back to the field late in the race.
