Aleen Bailey completed a sprinting sweep in the NCAA track and field championships Saturday night, defeating Louisiana State University's Muna Lee in the 200m -- just as she had a day earlier in the 100m.
But the Jamaican speedster, who almost single-handedly kept defending champion South Carolina in contention for the team title, could only watch as LSU pulled away later in the meet for its 13th team crown.
In the men's competition in the most important US university meet, Alistair Cragg clinched Arkansas' 10th team title -- its first since a string of eight straight championships ended in 1999 -- by winning the 5,000.
Cragg, of Ireland, took the lead from Stanford's Louis Luchini with about 200m left and won by 10m, pumping his right arm in the air twice as he crossed the finish line to wrap up the Razorbacks' triumph.
Cragg, knowing he had the chance to clinch the team title, said he was uncharacteristically nervous before the race.
"My mind wasn't in it, I was just worrying about team scores and teammates," he said. "My arms were jelly and my legs were jelly, it's the first time I've let pressure get to me like that."
Arkansas finished with 59 points, while Auburn was second with 50. Southern California was third, followed by LSU and Nebraska.
Auburn stayed close to the Razorbacks until Arkansas' strength in the middle-distance and distance races took over.
Arkansas' Chris Mulvaney finished second in the 1,500m and Razorbacks teammate Said Ahmed was fifth in a race won by Grant Robison of Stanford. And in the 800m, Robbie Stevens was third to give Arkansas six more points as Sam Burley of Penn won the race.
In the women's 200m, Bailey caught Lee in the final meters to win in 22.65 seconds.
Lee, who faded in the final few meters just as in Friday's 100m, was second in 22.76. Connie Moore of Penn State was third in 22.88.
LSU finished with 64 points, followed by Texas with 50 and South Carolina with 47. Florida was fourth, followed by Nebraska and Indiana.
In the men's 400m, Minnesota's Adam Steele came from far behind to win a race in which the top three men were separated by 17-thousandths of a second.
Minnesota teammate Mitch Potter seemed to be running away from the field with 75m remaining, but was caught by South Carolina's Otis Harris in the final few meters. But Steele had sneaked in to beat them both. His winning time was 44.563 seconds, six-thousandths of a second ahead of Harris.
RSS