The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Hardee wins decathlon on second day of 2005 78th Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays
04.07.2005 | Texas Relays
April 7, 2005
AUSTIN, Texas -- Texas sophomore transfer Trey Hardee has thrice contested the decathlon at Mike A. Myers Stadium in Austin, twice finishing as a runner-up last year for Mississippi State, at the Texas Relays and the NCAA Championships. The third time was a charm in his home debut for the Longhorns Thursday, as he racked up 7,839 points to win the Relays and narrowly miss Rusty Hunter's 17-year-old school record. Teammate Donovan Kilmartin was second at 7,650.
Washington State's Texan twins, Diana and Julie Pickler also produced a 1-2 finish in the women's heptathlon, with Diana taking the gold at a personal best 5,492, 78 points ahead of Julie.
On the track, the finishes of the men's and women's 5000meter runs were mild and wild. Oklahoma Baptist's Miriam Kaumba raced away from the rest of the women's field right from the start to win by more than 30 seconds in 16:12.60, lapping most of the field along the way. The men's race featured a stirring sprint down the homestretch between Tonny Okello of South Alabama and UTEP's Stephen Samoei. Okello, who is coached by former 400-meter world record holder Lee Evans, had the better kick to edge Samoei 14:20.98-14:21.19.
Anchored by NCAA Indoor 800 champion Aneita Denton, the Arkansas women won their first Relays 4x800 title. Denton clocked 2:05.6 on the final leg to give the Razorbacks a seven-second win over Stanford in 8:38.03. Southern Cal dominated the men's 4x800, riding a 1:49.2 lead-off leg by Raphael Asafo-Agyei and a 1:48.4 anchor from Duane Solomon to set a stadium record of 7:21.75 and end a three-year winning skein by Arkansas.
Field event titles went to Oklahoma State's Delisa McClain in the women's hammer and Texas-Pan American's Isaac Ybarra in the men's hammer. Ybarra produced a lifetime-best 213-0 toss for the gold, and McClain won at 201-2.
Top qualifying times in the 400 hurdles were claimed by Texas newcomer Melaine Walker, whose 57.01 was more than 1.5 seconds faster than the next best advancer, and Michael Tinsley of Jackson State, who was the only man to crack 50 seconds with a time of 49.77. In the men's collegiate division, Isa Phillips of South Plains narrowly missed the meet record of 50.32, stopping the clock at 50.39 to lead all qualifiers.