SACRAMENTO, Calif. — One Utah native had a dream ending, and another a successful runner-up finish, making Friday a day to remember for Utah collegians at the NCAA Track and Field championships.
Brigham Young University's Niklas Arrhenius called it a "dream come true" after he took home a national championship in the discus throw, taking the win on his second-to-last throw. Weber State's Lindsey Anderson blazed to a second-place finish in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, a race in which the victor set a new collegiate record.
Those were just two of five athletes from Utah schools to end up in scoring position Friday, as in-state athletes wrapped up competition in their events, with a handful of finals to be competed today.
After opening with a strong throw that put him into first place after the first round of throws, Arrhenius then struggled a bit, fouling twice and dropping to fifth place after the first four rounds.
"I have a problem with getting too tense in the very beginning," he said. "I got into kind of a rut with bad technique; I was just trying to kill it too much. I kind of eased up, and the fifth round was the one I hit."
Arrhenius then unleashed on his fifth throw, launching the disc 206 feet, 2 inches to outdistance second-place Michael Robertson of Stanford. One round of throws later, Arrhenius was crowned champion, six years after winning the national high school championship at Mountain View High.
"It's a dream come true," he said. "I've had problems at this meet before. But I put it together and got the one I wanted, and I'm happy."
In the women's steeplechase, Anderson entered the meet as the top seed, having set an NCAA record in the event earlier in the year. As the favorite, she took the pace out quickly, leading through the first 2,000 meters.
"I knew that I'd have to probably take it out if I wanted to run my race plan, which was to keep it on a solid pace and do what I could to finish strong in the end," said the Morgan native.
Michigan's Anna Willard made a move past Anderson with 600 meters to go, eventually pulling away for the win in the second-fastest time ever for an American woman (9:38.08). Anderson pulled in at second in 9:46.48.
"I'm happy with it," she said. "Second place is always hard to get, but I'm pleased."
BYU's Kassi Andersen finished fifth (9:52.10), with Weber's Sariah Long in eighth (10:05.22), each of the three coming away with All-American honors. BYU's Amy Fowler finished 13th in 10:22.75.
The other scorer came courtesy of BYU sophomore Ashley McCallister in the pole vault, who pulled a minor upset to finish tied for fifth at 13-03 1/2, also earning All-American honors. "I feel like I have control of the event now," she said. "Today I knew I could clear it and I was in control."
The Cougars' Matt Weirich cleared 17 feet, 2 3/4 inches to finish 10th in the men's pole vault, with David Pendergrass finishing ninth in the high jump (7-01 1/2). SUU's Justin Allen tied for 11th in the event, clearing 7-00 1/4.
The men's steeplechase saw Weber State's David Olson battle his way through the field for a ninth-place finish (8:38.02), with BYU's Chandler Goodwin coming in 12th in 8:45.62. Both were named All-Americans.
Utah State's Amber Peterson and Nick Karren both competed in the 400-meter hurdle semifinals Friday, but neither was able to advance to today's final. Peterson finished eighth in her heat in 57.83 seconds, with Karren coming in eighth in his heat (52.82 seconds).
Although all in-state athletes are finished with competition, today's finals kick off at 11 a.m. MDT and will be televised live on CBS.
E-mail: davidr@desnews.com