NCAA TRACK AND FIELD CHAMPIONSHIPS : Johnson Wins Heptathlon; UCLA Women Have a Shot

Gea Johnson of Arizona State scored an impressive 277-point victory in the heptathlon at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships on Thursday.

Johnson’s 6,132 points were the most by a collegian this year, beating her March score of 6,129.

In the process, she set three personal bests and equaled another.

In the other final Thursday, sophomore Janet Haskin of Kansas State won the 10,000 meters in 33:49.72, the slowest since women joined the meet in 1982.

For the second day in a row, UCLA and USC athletes advanced in qualifying rounds.

UCLA hammer thrower John Knight reached the final with a throw of 200 feet 5 inches. Bruin shotputters, Eric Bergreen and Brian Blutreich, also made the final with throws of 58-10 3/4 and 58-10, respectively.

UCLA’s Derek Knight was fourth in his heat of the 110-meter high hurdles with a time of 13.80 seconds. He advanced to the semifinals. So did USC’s Mark Crear, who was second in his heat with a time of 13.74.

The Bruin women kept their championship hopes alive as Tracie Millett reached the shotput final with a throw of 51- 3/4; Janeene Vickers was fourth in her heat of the 100-meter hurdles, advancing to the semifinals, and the 1,600-meter relay team reached the final with a second-place finish in 3:33.42.

However, favored Louisiana State advanced four women to the semifinals of the 100-meter hurdles: Tananjalyn Stanley (13.04), Dawn Boles (13.07), Mary Cobb (13.18) and Cinnamon Sheffield (13.21).

Stanley and Sheffield finished 1-2 in last year’s NCAA meet.

UCLA women’s Coach Bob Kersee analyzed his team’s chances to win the title.

“Tomorrow, we need to come away with a minimum 14 points from Millett in the discus and the 400-meter relay finals to have a decent shot at LSU and Texas for the team title.

“To be perfect after Friday’s competition, we need to see Tonya Sedwick (400 meters) and Angela Burnham (200) advance into the finals of their event. The key to us winning will be to get to Saturday’s final race, the 1,600-meter relay, in good health.”

Meanwhile, the Baylor men’s 1,600-relay team ran the fastest time in the world this season, clocking 3:01.46 in a semifinal heat.