After years of frustrating failure, Ray Doakes helped Arkansas at the NCAA track and field championships by looking out for himself.
Doakes cleared 7 feet, 41/2 inches in the high jump Thursday to beat Ed Broxterman of Kansas State on fewer misses.Doakes' victory, plus Matt Hemingway's tie for third place, gave the three-time defending champion Razorbacks 151/2 points for an early total of 251/2. The nearest teams are LSU and Tennessee with 14 each, followed by Southern Cal (13 points) and Rice and UCLA (10 each).
After winning the Southeastern Conference high jump title four years in a row, but failing to claim the NCAA crown - losing twice to a fellow SEC competitor - Doakes was out to vindicate himself.
"For once I can say `No,"' Doakes said when asked if he was thinking of the team race, expected to come down to the Razorbacks and UCLA. "Me being a senior, I'd never won a national championship, I just wanted to give my best shot at that. In this situation, the points were going to come. I knew Matt was jumping well.
"Finally, after all this time, I won a national championship. It wasn't the prettiest thing, but it feels fantastic."
Mario Sategna gave LSU 10 points by winning the decathlon with a personal best of 8,172 points. He was cheered on through two days of competition by a dozen relatives and friends from his native New Mexico.
"I had quite the crew," he said.
Sategna pulled away from Tennessee's Chad Smith in the pole vault, where he cleared 17 feet, 3/4 inches to Smith's 14-51/4.
"When I cleared 17 feet, I knew that as long as I had an average throw in the javelin and a decent 1,500 meters, I would be OK," Sategna said.
On the women's side, UCLA took an early lead with a 1-2 finish in the shot put.
Valeyta Althouse and Dawn Dumble gave the Bruins 18 points in their pursuit of the eight-time defending champion LSU Lady Tigers.
"We knew going in it was important that we get 1-2," Althouse said. "We couldn't afford any large mistakes, because if we did, the hopes for a team title would be gone."
Althouse, the American collegiate record-holder and Pac-10 champion the past two years, hurled the shot a meet-record 59 feet, 113/4 inches, on the first throw of the competition, in winning her first NCAA title.
The throw surpassed the previous NCAA meet best of 58-21/2 by Eileen Vanisi of Texas last year.
Dumble was second at 56-53/4.
In the other finals, Pat Itanyi of West Virginia took the women's long jump at 22-1, the best by a collegian this year. She beat Diane Guthrie-Gresham of George Mason by a quarter-inch.
While UCLA was accumulating big points in the women's shot put, LSU was loading up in the 100-meter dash. The Tigers' three entries in the 100 all won their heats - D'Andre Hill in 11.22 seconds, Zundra Feagin in 11.44 and freshman Kwajalein Butler in 11.45 - in advancing to Friday's semifinals.
The men's 100 heats produced some sparkling times, with the heat winners being Pac-10 champion Ato Boldon of UCLA in 10.10, Donovan Powell of Texas Christian in 10.11 and Bode Osagiobare of Georgia in 10.20.
Clemson's Duane Ross, the Atlantic Coast Conference champion, won his 110-meter hurdles heat in 13.45, the best by a collegian this year. It broke the stadium mark of 13.54 set by Willie Gault in 1982.
"I stumbled out of the blocks," Ross, a senior, said. "I think I got out dead last. I got the lead at the third hurdle."
Houston's Ubeja Anderson also went under the previous record, winning his heat at 13.49.
Another stadium mark tumbled in the men's 1,600-meter relay heats, as Baylor's foursome of Michael Ford, Raoul Howard, Corey Williams and Deon Minor clocked 3:00.60, the fastest in the world this year. The stadium record of 3:02.96 was set in 1986.
In the women's 1,600 relay heats, Arizona State's quartet of Tayo Akinremi, Jacqui Gayle, Avia Morgan and Lade Akinremi won its heat at 3:29.45, fastest by a college team this year.
In the men's 1,500, expected to be one of the meet's best events, the top five finishers in the indoor mile - all of whom broke 4 minutes - advanced to Saturday's final. They included indoor champion Kevin Sullivan of Michigan, runner-up Graham Hood of Arkansas, No. 3 Paul McMullen of Eastern Michigan, No. 4 Passmore Furusa of LSU and No. 5 Brian Hyde of William & Mary.