FSU men, LSU women win track titles

Washington State University’s Anna Layman and the University of Idaho’s Russ Winger earned All-America honors on Saturday’s final day of the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships in Des Moines, Iowa.

Layman, a redshirt freshman out of Central Valley High School, placed eighth in the women’s 800-meter final with a time of 2 minutes, 6.93 seconds.

Winger, a senior, capped his Vandals career with a third-place showing in the men’s shot put. His best effort came on his final heave of the day – 64 feet, 83/4 inches.

Winger earned All-America status six times during his career, five in the shot put and one in the discus.

Walter Dix won his third consecutive 200 title and led the Florida State Seminoles to their third straight men’s team crown.

“We came out and gave a great effort,” Dix said. “Three-peat, I’m proud of that.”

The LSU women edged defending champion Arizona State for the women’s championship, a race that came down to the meet’s final event, the 1,600 relay.

The two teams entered the race tied. LSU finished second for eight points, Arizona State fifth for four points.

LSU won its 25th women’s track title, 14th outdoors, but its first since Dennis Shaver replaced Pat Henry as coach in 2005.

“This is one where we came out on top,” said Shaver, an assistant at LSU for nine years before taking over the program. “In the last four years, our teams have been second six times. It’s about our turn, I guess.”

The Tigers didn’t win an event Saturday, but they won the team crown with exceptional depth. LSU had 67 points, to 63 for Arizona State. Texas A&M was third with 48.

The final day of the meet was held under partly cloudy skies in front of a crowd of 11,410 at Drake Stadium, where 19 stadium records fell in the four days of competition. The stadium, site of the Drake Relays, last was site of the NCAA championships in 1970.

Dix, in his final race as a collegian, built a big lead coming off the turn, and then held off 100 champion Richard Thompson of LSU to win in 20.40. Thompson was second at 20.44.

“It’s time to move on,” said Dix, who got his degree in social science in April. “It was fun, but I’m excited to move on to the pro level.”

For the 5-foot-8 Florida State cannonball of a sprinter who is coming off a hamstring injury, it was his eighth NCAA championship, sixth outdoors.

“He’s meant everything,” Seminoles coach Bob Braman said. “Even the year we won by 16, Walt scored 17.”

Florida State finished with 52 points. LSU and Auburn tied for second with 44.

Jacquelyn Johnson of Arizona State became the fourth woman to win four NCAA championships in a single event when she won the heptathlon.

Arizona State piled up 23 points in the first two events of the day to take a 28-point lead over LSU (59-31), but the deep, talented Tigers roared back.

The Tigers scored 11 points in the 100 hurdles, nine in the 200 and eight in the 800 to tie the race at 59 entering the relay finale.

The Sun Devils’ Jessica Pressley won the shot put at 59-5 3/4 . Teammate Sarah Stevens, who won the discus on Friday, was fifth in the shot to give Arizona State 13 points in the event.

Then Johnson wrapped up her outstanding collegiate career with the 800, the final of the seven events of the heptathlon. She finished with 6,053 points to 5,811 for runner-up Liz Roehrig of Minnesota.

The only other women to win four NCAA titles in one event were Suzy Favor of Wisconsin in the 1,500 (1987-90), Seilala Sua of UCLA in the discus (1997-2000) and Angela Williams of USC in the 100 (1999-2002).