Duncan Remains a Triple Threat

Nicole Duncan enters competition at the NCAA Division II outdoor track and field championships in San Angelo, Texas, on Thursday as the defending long jump champion.

By Saturday, she may be among the most decorated athletes in Cal State Los Angeles history.

Duncan, a senior, has won five NCAA titles, four of them indoors. At the Division II meet, she is expected to win her fourth consecutive long jump title--two outdoors, two indoors--in a two-year span. The native of Kingston, Jamaica, also is the favorite in the 100 meters and a prime contender in the 200.

Despite her accomplishments, Duncan was unsure of her ability until this season.

“I’ve matured a lot more and I understand my events more,” she said. “Last year, I was just running. Now I feel I’m a lot more mentally prepared for each event.”

Duncan believes she can win all three of her events. She runs the 100 preliminaries and semifinals Thursday and the 200 preliminaries on Friday. The long jump and sprint finals are on Saturday.

The schedule could be her biggest obstacle. The long jump competition starts 20 minutes before the 100-meter final.

“Last year it happened with the long jump and the 200,” Duncan said. “I had to keep going back and forth. Finally, I just forgot about the 200. But I’ve studied the schedule and looked at all the sheets and I think I can do it.”

She comes into the meet having won all three events at the California Collegiate Athletic Assn. meet two weeks ago at UC San Diego. One more national title would set a school record.

“It’s been a good year,” Duncan said. “I just thank God for everything that’s happened to me.”

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As expected, the women’s portion of the Pacific 10 Conference track and field championships turned into another tight finish between UCLA and USC.

The Bruins edged the Trojans, 160-157, at Pullman, Wash., in a meet that was decided on the last event--the 1,600-meter relay. Sheena Johnson took the lead on the third leg and Monique Henderson took it from there as UCLA won the race in 3 minutes 31.97 seconds.

Lena Nilsson won the 800 and 1,500 meters for UCLA, which has won the last six women’s championships. Other Bruin winners were Johnson in the 400 hurdles and Chaniqua Ross in the discus throw.

Angela Williams, a three-time NCAA 100-meter champion, won that event for USC. Other Trojan winners were Nakiya Johnson in the 400, Natasha Neal in the 100 hurdles, Tatyana Obukhova in the triple jump and Inga Stasiulionyte in the javelin.

Last year, after UCLA won the conference title, USC defeated the Bruins for its first NCAA championship. That meet is coming up, May 30-June 2 in Baton Rouge, La.

Stanford claimed the Pac-10 men’s title, with USC taking third and UCLA sixth. USC won three events--Ryan Wilson in the 110 hurdles, Julien Kapek in the triple jump and the 400-meter relay team. UCLA winners were Scott Moser in the discus and Scott Wiegand in the shot put.

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Cal State Northridge won the Big West Conference women’s track and field title Saturday at UC Irvine.

Senior Annetta Wells of Northridge was chosen Big West athlete of the year after winning the 200 and 400-meter titles. The Matadors also got victories from Aisha Morgan in the 100, Heather Heron in the 100 hurdles, LaShaunda Fowler in the long jump, Dee Scott in the triple jump, Laura Sauao in the hammer throw and Sammie Freeman in the javelin.

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After getting past stubborn South Carolina to win the NCAA softball regional at Columbia, S.C., UCLA (54-7) will play Florida State (53-18) Thursday morning at 8 to open play at the Women’s College World Series in Oklahoma City.

The top-ranked Bruins are also top-seeded in the double-elimination tournament. They have reached the championship game the last three years, winning their eighth NCAA title in 1999.

In Thursday’s other matchups, California (52-19) plays 2000 champion Oklahoma (49-14), Arizona State (44-18) faces Michigan (50-9) and Nebraska (49-12) plays defending champion Arizona (52-11).

The championship game is Monday.

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Pepperdine was the only local team to advance out of the NCAA West Regional men’s golf tournament with a fifth-place finish at Albuquerque. Jason Allred tied for eighth individually by shooting an even-par 216 for 54 holes. USC, which had been ranked seventh in the nation by GolfWeek magazine, finished 18th. UCLA sophomore John Merrick advanced to the NCAA championships next week by shooting even par.... Freshman Roberta Stewart became the first Long Beach State player to be first-team All-American in women’s water polo.... Turhan Douglas has been hired as interim men’s volleyball coach at USC. Douglas, 32, was an assistant the last three years under Pat Powers, who resigned in April.