California's Sheila Hudson fulfilled a promise by smashing her American record in the triple jump and Wisconsin's Suzy Favor completed an illustrious career by winning a record ninth NCAA track title Saturday night.
Louisiana State swept the men's and women's titles for the second year in a row, the only team to achieve such a sweep. The men had 44 points to 36 for indoor champion Arkansas and 34 for Baylor. The Lady Tigers, led by sprinter Esther Jones, took the women's title with 53 points to UCLA's 46 and Wisconsin's 42.Hudson, in her final college meet, leaped 46 feet, 3/4 inches to complete a horizontal jump double. She won the long jump Friday.
Favor's final college meet ended with her fourth consecutive 1,500-meter title that, along with her 800 victory on Friday, gave her two titles.
Jones led LSU to the women's title by sweeping the 100- and 200-meter races Saturday night, after anchoring the Tigers to victory in the 400-meter relay Friday night. She took the 100 in a wind-aided 11.14 seconds and the 200 in 22.49, the fastest by an American this year.
Jones' double matched the two sprint golds achieved by her more renowned former teammate, Dawn Sowell, in last year's NCAA championships.
After winning the long jump Friday night, Hudson said she would take a serious shot at the triple jump record of 45-5 1/4 she set in 1987 at San Jose, Calif.
She made good on her promise twice. On her second attempt, she sailed 45-7 3/4, improving the record by 2 1/2 inches. On her fifth jump, she became the first American to jump 46 feet, adding five inches to her second-round jump.
"I knew I had the capability to break the American record," Hudson said. "I didn't think of it as going out on a limb."
The record jump was the fourth-best ever by a woman outdoors. Only world record-holder Galina Chistyakova of the Soviet Union, who jumped 47-7 3/4 last year, and Li Huirong of China have gone longer.
Hudson's jump was the best in the world outdoors this year.
The triple jump title was Hudson's third in an outdoor championship. After winning in 1987 and 1988, she redshirted last year to concentrate on her studies and graduated last month with a degree in architecture.
Hudson also swept the triple jump and long jump titles in the NCAA indoor meet in March, when she set an American indoor record of 45-9.
She won the long jump title Friday night at 22-1, the best by an American this year and her career best.
Favor, a senior with a cross-country season of eligibility remaining, swept to an unprecedented fourth straight title in the outdoor 1,500 meters. She pulled away down the final straightaway for a seven-meter victory over Tennessee's Jasmin Jones in 4 minutes, 8.26 seconds, the fastest by a collegian this year.
The remarkable Favor, who never has lost in the NCAA championships, won her first outdoor 800-meter title Friday night. She also has won three NCAA indoor titles in the mile and one indoors at 3,000 meters. In four years at Wisconsin, she won 54 of 56 races against college competition, the last 40 in a row.