NCAA Track and Field Championships : Harris Wins Third Straight 400 Hurdles Title

Iowa State’s Danny Harris, the 1984 Olympic silver medalist, became the second athlete in the history of the NCAA Outdoor track and field championships to win the men’s 400-meter intermediate hurdles title three straight years Friday at Indianapolis.

In matching the feat of Ralph Mann of Brigham Young in 1969-71, Harris was clocked in a meet-record 48.33 seconds, beating UCLA sophomore Kevin Young by three meters. Young was clocked in 48.77, a personal best. Harris’ old meet record was 48.42.

Texas Christian’s 400-meter relay team of Roscoe Tatum, Andrew Smith, Leroy Reid and Greg Scholars broke the collegiate record with a winning time of 38.46. The old mark of 38.53 was set by Houston in 1982.

After 10 events, Texas was leading in both men’s and women’s team scoring. The Longhorn men had 36 points, followed by Washington State with 32, and Southern Methodist, Texas A&M; and Fresno State with 22 apiece. USC had 19 1/2 points and UCLA 12.

Texas’ women had 34 points, with surprising Texas Southern second with 30 and Alabama third with 23. USC had 19 and UCLA 10.

Joey Bunch of USC took fourth in the men’s 800 meters in 1:47.24, and teammate Mike Dexter was fifth in the 200 in 20.56. The winner of the 800 was Abiliene Christian’s Freddie Williams, a native of South Africa, in 1:46.1. The surprise winner of the 200 was Floyd Heard of Texas A&M; in 20.34.

Harris, a junior from Perris, Calif., will have a shot at a record-breaking fourth NCAA title next year.

Heard, clocked in 20.34, beat a field that included heralded freshman Roy Martin of SMU, Chidi Imoh of Missouri, world junior record-holder Lorenzo Daniel of Mississippi State and Harvey McSwain of North Carolina State.

McSwain was third in 20.53, Imoh sixth in 20.63, Martin seventh, also in 20.63, and Daniel eighth in 20.64.

The women’s 200 also was a close finish, with Texas’ Juliet Cuthbert of Jamaica retaining her title in 22.71, edging indoor 60-yard champion Gwen Torrence of Georgia.

Nigerian Maria Usifo became the first women’s champion from Texas Southern in NCAA meet history, winning the 400-meter hurdles in 55.16. The time broke the stadium record of 55.47, set by Anna Kastelskaya of the Soviet Union in 1982.

Leisa Knowles of Oklahoma State and defending champion Latanya Sheffield of San Diego State both were clocked in 55.90, but Knowles was given the runner-up place.

Kenya’s Julius Korir of Washington State, the 1984 Olympic steeplechase champion, won the first half of his attempted long-distance double, taking the 3,000-meter steeplechase in 8:21.17, the fastest time in the world this year.

Korir, who will run the 5,000 meters tonight, bettered the clocking of 8:24.87, posted by Henry Marsh of the United States earlier this year.

Sophomore Karen Bakewell of Miami (Ohio) broke the meet record in the women’s 800, winning in 2:00.85.

The Texas Southern women collected their second title, winning the 400-meter relay in 43.71 with an all-Nigerian team of Moswumola Someye, Linda Eseimo-Kumoh, Mary Onyali and Usifo.

Southwest Conference athletes swept the final four men’s field events, as Eric Metcalf of Texas won the long jump with a personal best of 27-0 1/2, Texas’ Dag Wennlund of Sweden took the javelin at 258-9, SMU’s Lars Nilsen of Norway won the shotput at 69-7 1/2, and Jeff Pascoe of Arkansas took the pole vault with a personal best of 18-0 1/2.