2004 NCAA OUTDOOR TRACK & FIELD CHAMPIONSHIPS
McWilliams, Nilsson, Bernard-Thomas, and Smith win NCAA titles

Tiffany McWilliams held off Treniere Clement to win the 1,500. (Photos: Alison Wade/NYRR, click to enlarge)

Ida Nilsson (left) stuck with Brianna Shook's fast early pace and pulled away over the final laps in the steeplechase.

Neisha Bernard-Thomas (right) held off Kamiesha Bennett to win the 800.

Kim Smith dominated the 5,000m and won her third NCAA title in three months.

by Parker Morse
(More detailed report to come)

The fourth day of the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships offered few surprises in the women's distances, as top seeds won each final. More excitement came from the team race, where UCLA held off LSU by a single point in the final relay.

Mississippi State's Tiffany McWilliams dominated the 1,500m, setting the pace from the gun and pulling away at the bell to win in 4:11.59. Unlike past McWilliams runaways, which featured dizzying leads midway, the field hung on to McWilliams until the closing lap. "That's what we have to do to compete," explained second-place Treniere Clement of Georgetown (4:12.21). "It was exciting," said McWilliams.

Ida Nilsson of Northern Arizona became the first women's steeplechase champion not from BYU. Nilsson followed Toledo's Briana Shook from the start, then took the lead with four laps to go. Nilsson increased her lead with each lap to finish in 9:48.29 with Shook in 9:49.44. BYU's two runners, Michaela Mannova and Kassi Andersen, finished third and fourth in 9:56.66 and 9:58.38; in fifth was a new member of the sub-10 club as Nebraska's Ann Gaffigan ran a PR 9:59.75.

Neisha Bernard-Thomas has nothing to regret in LSU's single-point loss of the team race. Not only did she run a leg of the Lady Tigers' school-record 4x400m relay, but she set out to an early lead in the 800m, and while challenged repeatedly by Tennessee's Kameisha Bennett (second, 2:03.11) she held on to the lead to win in 2:02.86. Defending champion Alice Schmidt of UNC closed fast to take third in 2:03.79, but not fast enough to reach Bernard-Thomas and Bennett.

The women's 5,000m proved a replay of this year's NCAA indoor race, as Kim Smith of Providence College jumped to the front and opened a nearly 100m lead within the first kilometer. The rest of the race was just a workout, as Smith eventually won in a relatively pedestrian (for her) 15:48.86. Sara Bei of Stanford out-sprinted Molly Huddle of Notre Dame for second (16:24.90 to 16:25.44.)

UCLA held the lead with 64 points going in to the final relay, with LSU and Nebraska tied at 58 points each. Nebraska didn't have a relay, so UCLA needed to score at least five points to be out of reach of an LSU victory. LSU got the needed victory, but UCLA also got the fourth-place finish and the five points they needed to hold on to the victory, their fifth national title in outdoor track.

(Posted June 12, 2004)