June 12, 2001
EUGENE, Ore. - In a span of 72 hours, University of Arizona
junior Brianna Glenn went from being the underdog to the top dog.
Glenn won the 200m title Saturday at the NCAA Outdoor Track and
Field Championships at Hayward Field, completing a meet where she won the
long jump on Wednesday and then finished third in the 100m and claimed
victory in the 200m today.
Despite the fantastic meet, Glenn was not one for hyperbole in
the interview tent after her 200m victory.
"I'm pretty pleased with (my performance)," said Glenn, who
scored total of 26 points for the Wildcats at the meet. "I came in here
with high expectations, and this pretty much fulfilled what I wanted to do."
Glenn scored a total of 26 points for the Wildcats, leading them
to a third place overall finish with 44 points.
"This was a great team effort. What we did as a team is truly
remarkable," Arizona director of track and field Dave Murray said. "Brianna
was unbelievable as an individual. We had a great meet and are very proud
of what we were able to do."
The Wildcats notched highest team finish in their track and
field history, men or women. The Arizona women tied for third place at this
year's NCAA Indoor Championships.
Yesterday, Wildcat senior Andrea Dutoit won the pole vault,
giving Arizona three NCAA champions, the most by any team - men or women -
at the meet and the most in school history in a single year. Arizona now
has 15 individual winners in women's history, the sixth most in NCAA
history.
Southern California and UCLA made it a Pacific-10 Conference 1-2-3 sweep of
the competition. The Trojans won with 64 points, while the Bruins had 55 in
second. It is the first time a conference has ever gone 1-2-3 in a women's
NCAA Track and Field Championships. Stanford was eighth, Arizona State
placed 14th and Washington State finished 18th, making it six Pac-10 teams
in the top-20.
Tennessee won the men's title with 50 points, and Texas Christian was second
with 49. The Wildcat men finished without a point at the meet.
Less than 40 minutes after she finished third in the 100m, Glenn
shot out of the blocks in the 200m with a fantastic start. She led the race
coming off the turn, but Louisiana State freshman Muna Lee caught her and
presented a significant challenge.
Glenn did not back down, however, taking the lead with
approximately 60 meters to go, dipping at the tape in a wind-aided time of
22.92 seconds. Lee finished second in 23.05.
"I knew that I had to get out and run my race, the type of race
where I got out well and got into the lead," Glenn said. "I had a very good
start, and I knew that I was in the race when I came off the turn. Coming
down the stretch, I just pushed and was able to get ahead of her (Lee) for
the win."
Her event coach, Arizona associate head coach Fred Harvey, said
she ran the perfect race.
"Brianna knew what she had to do going into the race - get out
and challenge for the lead immediately," Harvey said. "She was able to do
that, and then she just took off down the stretch. She showed today that
she is one of the best, not only in college, but in the country."
The victory completed one of the best four-day stretches in
history for an Arizona women's athlete. Glenn became the fourth Arizona
women's track and field athlete to win two events at the NCAA
Championships - Meg Ritchie (shot put and discus, 1980 and 1982), Carla
Garrett (shot put and discus, 1989) and Amy Skieresz (5,000m and 10,000m in
1997 and 1998) were the others.
Glenn, who prepped at La Mirada High School in Orange County,
Calif., also became the only women's competitor at the meet to win two
events. She also set a new standard for double winners at NCAA
Championships, becoming the first woman to win a sprint event and the long
jump in the same competition.
"I usually think of myself as a sprinter who long jumps," said
Glenn, whose time in the 200m was her best ever under any conditions. "I
think now I am going to be looked at as more of an all-around athlete who is
dangerous in both of the events. Winning the long jump and the 100m and
200m (both at the Pac-10 Championships) gave me a lot of confidence coming
into this meet."
Glenn, whose 26 points as an individual would have tied her for
10th as a team, enetered the competition ranked 21st out of 24 competitors
in the 200m, but won her heat Wednesday and the final today.
Approximately 40 minutes before she won the 200m, Glenn finished
third in the 100m with a wind-aided time of 11.21 seconds. She improved
over her fourth place finish last year in the event. Glenn's time tied the
second-best time of her career under any conditions.
USC junior Angela Williams became the first three-time champion
in the event, running 11.05 to best UCLA senior Shakedia Jones, who ran
11.10.
Competing in her first NCAA Championships, junior Angela Foster
finished fifth in the women's hammer throw with a toss of 204-1 (62.21m).
Foster, who transferred from Moorpark (Calif.) College and set the school
record this year, made the finals with a throw of 197-5 (60.17m) on her
third attempt.
She then threw 203-1 (61.90m), on her fifth attempt and closed
with her best throw on her sixth and final attempt. Southern Methodist's
Florence Ezeh won the event, breaking the meet and Hayward Field record
three times during the day, with a throw of 219-4 (66.85m).
Wildcat senior and Tucson native Erin Doherty was running well
in the first lap of the 1,500m, but was bumped and fell on the second lap.
She recovered to finish 12th in 4 minutes, 39.57 seconds. Appalachia State'
s Mary Jayne Harrelson, the 1999 event winner, coasted to the win in
4:14.30.
Arizona junior Tara Chaplin finished 23rd in the 5,000m in a
time of 16:45.81 to round out the competition for the Wildcats.
