Sports

NCAA track stars look ahead to Athens

Collegians, untouched by steroid scandal, eye trials

updated 8:49 p.m. ET June 13, 2004

AUSTIN, Texas - A younger bunch of athletes, untainted by the steroid scandal rocking their sport, is eyeing the Athens Olympics in the aftermath of their competition at the NCAA track and field championships.

Lauryn Williams of Miami, Sheena Johnson of UCLA and Dee Dee Trotter of Tennessee are among those who believe their performances in Austin bode well for their chances at the Olympic trials, which begin July 9 in Sacramento, Calif.

Sanya Richards, considered the safest bet of all the collegians to make the U.S. team before the NCAAs, will have to shake off her first collegiate loss at 400 meters outdoors. She finished third — behind Trotter and UCLA’s Monique Henderson — in the finals on her home track Saturday night.

“My aunt always says the brave may fall but never yield,” the 19-year-old reigning U.S. champion said. “I’m not going to give up my dreams. I’m going to keep fighting to be the best in the 400.”

Williams, at 5-feet, 3-inches one of the smallest performers at the NCAAs, made the biggest impression, blowing away the competition to win the 100 Friday night in 10.96 seconds, the fastest in the world this year. That came after a wind-aided 10.94 in the preliminaries.

Before the NCAAs, Williams thought just making the 100 finals in Sacramento would be an accomplishment. Now she has bigger goals.

“Everyone knows now who Lauryn Williams is, what she’s capable of doing,” Williams said. “I don’t think I’m sneaking up on anyone, and I don’t think anyone is sneaking up on me.”

She knows that many younger athletes can’t handle the pressure of a meet like the trials. As she put it, they “choke.” But Williams was part of the relay pool at the world championships last season. She has competed in the Pan American Games and junior world championships.

“I’m Lauryn Williams, you’re Chryste Gaines or whoever. So what?” Williams said. “I’m not going to be in awe of any of the pro athletes.”

Williams’ infectious personality won over the press corps at the NCAAs. She even spoke at the Track and Field Writers of America luncheon a few hours before her 100 finals. After the race, she talked about who she wants to win at the trials, poking fun at her hairstyle in the process.

“Hopefully,” she said, “it’s the short, young runner who wins the race,” she said, “with the Mickey Mouse ears.”

Johnson gave team champion UCLA one of its two victories by winning the 400 hurdles Saturday in 53.54 seconds, second-fastest ever by a collegiate runner.

“I think I’m really ready to go faster at the Olympic trials, and the Olympic Games,” she said.

Trotter and Henderson both showed they can run with the best when they beat Richards.

There are others who could make their mark in Sacramento. Among the men, freshman Tommy Skipper of Oregon won the pole vault at 18 feet, 8¼ inches. He has cleared 19 feet, and in that unpredictable event, a top three finish — and a spot on the team — is far from impossible.

Sprinters Tyson Gay and Wallace Spearmon, whose victories in the 100 and 200 helped Arkansas win its 11th outdoor team title, carry newfound confidence into the trials. Hyleas Fountain of Georgia will try to bounce back from a stunning loss to Arizona State freshman Jacquelyn Johnson to make the U.S. team in the heptathlon.

Many more athletes at the NCAAs will compete at the Olympics for their native countries, including 10,000-meter champion Alistair Cragg, who was born in South Africa but is on the Irish Olympic team.

Others include triple-jump champion Leevan Sands of the Bahamas, the bronze medalist in the event in last year’s world championships. Other top foreign athletes headed to Athens include women’s triple jump champion Ineta Radevica of Nebraska for Latvia and women’s hammer winner Candice Scott of Florida for Trinidad and Tobago. The Olympic goals are more challenging for Robert Cheseret of Arizona, the top male scorer at the NCAAs with a first in the 5,000 meters and a second in the 10,000. He is just one of many elite distance runners from Kenya.

For the young U.S. athletes, including LSU sprinter Muna Lee, the possible suspensions of older competitors in the drug scandal is an opportunity.

“Track needs to be cleaned up,” Williams said at the track writers’ luncheon. “I feel that me or Muna are as worthy of the Olympics as Marion Jones or anyone else.”