It's no small wonder that only 14 Utah collegiate athletes will participate in this week's NCAA Track and Field Championships in Durham, N.C. Look at the qualifying standards athletes must meet just to participate in the meet.
A pole vaulter must scale 18-feet, 1/2-inch - the winning height of the 1976 Olympic Games. For 1,500 meters, the qualifying mark is 3:42.20 - the equivalent of a sub-four mile. For 100 meters, the required time is 10.27 - a medal-winning performance in both the 1976 and 1980 Olympic Games.This year both Weber State and the University of Utah were shut out of the NCAA meet. Utah State qualified two athletes - weightman Mark Carter and hurdler Ime Akpan. The remainder of the state's 12 qualifiers are from BYU: sprinters Frank Fredericks, Eric Akogyiram, Oluyemi Kayode and Brian Mitchell, distance runners Leanne Whitesides and Ted Mecham, heptathletes Anu Kaljurand and Laura Zaugg and weight throwers Cathy James, Anna Mosdell, Kartsi Leppaluoto and Per Karlsson.
It's a relatively small group, but it's a strong one. BYU has a chance to crack the top 10 in both the men's and women's competition. There's reason to believe that a handful of Utahns could place in the top five in their specialties.
Here's a brief look at the state's qualifiers:
SPRINTS - Fredericks has qualified in two individual events, the 100- and 200-meter dashes, with times of 10.16 and 20.36. He also teammed with basketball player Marty Haws, Akogyiram and Kayode to qualifiy in the 4 x 100-meter relay with a school-record time of 39.53. However, Haws will be replaced by Mitchell, an all-conference football player who has run considerably faster (.4 of a second) than Haws in the 100-meter dash.
Akogyiram, a sophomore from Ghana, has qualified in the 100 and 200 with times of 10.23 and 20.76. Kayode, a freshman from Nigeria, has qualified in the 200 with a 20.63 mark.
Fredericks, a junior from Namibia who had the third fastest time in the world last year (10.02) in the 100, is the state's best hope. Track & Field News picked him to finish fifth in the 100 and fourth in the 200 (last year he was fifth and third, respectively). But Akogyiram could be a surprise. He has come on strong the last two weeks. He lost to Fredericks by just .01 of a second a week ago.
DISTANCES - Mecham is a mystery. As a sophomore two years ago, he was runnerup in the NCAA steeplechase, running 8:38.74. He hasn't approached that performance since then. Last year he didn't even qualify for the meet, nor has he looked particularly sharp this year. His best time in 1990 is 8:48.30, which qualifies for the NCAA meet because of an altitude adjustment.
Whitesides, a sophomore from New Mexico who made the U.S. Junior World Cross Country team last fall, probably has the best chance of a high finish for the BYU women. She has been ranked as high as second in the 10,000 (with a time of 33:45.7). Strangely, she was left off TFN's predictions for the top 10.
HURDLES - Akpan, a sophomore from Nigeria, should be no secret by now, not after a fourth-place finish in the NCAA indoor meet. And yet her coaches still had trouble getting her accepted into the big California meets, and Track and Field News overlooked her completely in its predictions for the NCAA's top finishers in the 100-meter hurdles. She'll be there anyway. She has the sixth fastest time (13.14) heading into the meet.
THROWS - Like Akpan, Carter also was overlooked by TFN's predictions, but for a different reason. Until about six weeks ago, Carter, a junior from Clearfield, was redshirting the season. Since returning to active duty, he has added seven feet to his school record, reaching 214-4 last week (the country's fifth best mark). In practice last week he reached 216. He's a good bet to place in the top five. He placed fourth in the national indoor meet in the weight throw - an event that was won by BYU's Karlsson.
Karlsson, a sophomore from Sweden with a best of 214-1, has been picked to finish second by TFN, but he has been slowed by the measles the last two weeks.
James, a sophomore from Orem, is picked to place fourth (she was eighth last year). She and Mosdell, a sophomore from Canada, are reaching peak form at the right time. Last week James threw 172-5 and Mosdell 170-9.
Leppaluoto barely qualified with a season-best of 51-1.
MULTI-EVENTS - Kaljurand, a freshman from Estonia, is hard to evaluate. She has competed in just one heptathlon in her life and she did well enough to qualify with a score of 5,468 points. She will improve dramatically in time, but this week? Zaugg, a junior from Clearfield, has been picked to finish eighth. Her best mark is 5,384.