NCAA Track and Field : A Day of Records for SDSU Women

San Diego State’s Latanya Sheffield and Laura DeSnoo set records Wednesday in qualifying for finals in the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships at the University of Texas.

Sheffield set an NCAA meet record of 55.39 seconds in the women’s 400-meter intermediate hurdles, which featured a major surprise when Olympic champion Nawal El Moutawakil did not qualify for the final.

El Moutawakil, a sophomore at Iowa State, had set the former record of 56.57 last year. Representing Morocco, she had set an Olympic record of 54.61 to win the gold medal at the Games. In Wednesday’s NCAA qualifying, she finished second in her heat in 58.29, which was the ninth fastest time. The top eight qualify for Friday’s final.

DeSnoo, who finished 10th in the Olympic women’s discus, led the NCAA qualifying with a throw of 185-feet 11-inches. It broke the Texas stadium record of 177-11 set by Betty Rogers in 1981. DeSnoo, who finished third in last year’s NCAA meet, has not thrown less than 180 feet this year. Lacy Barnes of Fresno State, the runner-up in the qualifying, also broke the old mark, throwing 182-4.

In another surprise, UCLA’s Jackie Joyner, the collegiate record holder in the women’s long jump, failed to reach the final.

Joyner, entered in six events--the long jump, triple jump, 100-meter hurdles, 400 hurdles and two relays--cleared only 20-5 in the long jump, compared with her collegiate record of 22-11.

It was her second event of the day. Earlier, she won her 400 hurdles heat in 56.91.