Lincoln, Lekote and Fleshman defend their titles, Schmidt earns her first

By Bob Ramsak

Three successful title defenses highlighted the distance races on the third day of the NCAA championships.

As expected, South Carolina sophomore Otukile Lekote defended his 800 meter title, taking command from the start en route to a 1:45.17, the second fastest time of the season.

The 23 year-old from Ramotswa, Botswana, led the field through the first 200 meters in 23.9 and a very fast 50.40 through the first 400 meters.

"That was my intention -- to take the race out fast and still come home the last 400. I wanted to get my opponents tired to be by myself at the finish line." Next on his agenda is preparation for the Commonwealth Games.

"The shape I'm in right now is the right shape. If I can be able to maintain that shape and work a little bit harder closer to the competition, I will be able to make the final in Manchester."

Sam Burley, a junior from the University of Pennsylvania, utilized a strong kick down the homestretch to cross the line as a surprising runner-up in 1:45.39.

"The race went out exactly as I wanted it to," said Burley, who was second at the HEPS championships and seventh at the indoor NCAA. "I don't like to go out fast. I wanted to be in fourth or fifth and stay in contention. The one part of my race that I have some confidence in is my kick." Admitting he had plenty left at the finish, he added, "I wish I would have gone about twenty meters earlier so I could have been a little bit closer."

While Lekote may have been the class of the field, his lightning-quick pace pulled the second through sixth place finishers to personal bests: Florida sophomore Moise Joseph (1:45.74), Jonathan Johnson (1:45.81), Nathan Brannen (1:46.00) and Marc Sylvester (1:46.21). Besides Burley, the top six are all freshman or sophomores.

Equally as dominant a display was provided by Daniel Lincoln in the steeplechase, who successfully defended his title in 8:22.34, the fastest winning time since Jim Svenoy of UTEP clocked 8:21.48 seven years ago. Martin Allegyar of SMU opened with a quick pace before fading, playing perfectly into Lincoln's game plan.

"When (Allegyar) took it out quick -- which I had hoped that he would -- I just followed him and nobody else committed."

With 1,200 meters remaining, Lincoln had built a firm 20 meter lead, with Colorado's Steve Slattery and Solomon Kandie of Tulane in tow. "I knew that if I was going to maintain the lead, then I was going to have to lead fast. It was pretty lonely at the front of the pack."

The Colorado senior, who was also hoping for a quick pace, finished second in 8:26.51.

"I knew it would be in both of our interests to push the pace. This was honestly the most disappointing race of my career because I had been looking forward to it for so long. I just got beat by an amazing runner." Kandie finished third in 8:35.30, in what turned out to be the final time a Tulane uniform would be seen at an NCAA Championship.

Lauren Fleshman said she was prepared for a multitude of possible scenarios in the 5,000, prep work that eventually led to a successful defense of her NCAA title.

"I just tried to be really focused and confident the whole way so that I'd have something at the end. I tried to have as soft a race plan as possible so I'd be ready for anything." Her multi-strategy planned paid off after her 15:53.91 win, collecting her third NCAA title.

Fleshman led the first two laps, before Colorado freshman Sara Gorton and Wednesday's 10k winner Kristin Price assumed the early pace-setting duties, taking the field through the first 1,000 meters in 3:20.06 and through 3k in 9:49.41. A lap later, Fleshman began positioning herself, moving up to fifth with Oklahoma State senior Siri Alfheim in close pursuit.

Gorton maintained the lead at the 4k point (12:57.8), with the race shaping up behind her. With three laps remaining, Yale's Kate O'Neill joined Gorton and Price near the front. With 600 meters to go, Gorton dropped back as Fleshman forged ahead, putting a quick gap on Price, which she expanded into the final back stretch. A 20.2 final 100 meters sealed her win. Alfhein held on for second in 16:00.47. Price was third in 16:01.25, with Gorton fourth in 16:02.08.

"I figured that if the pace went out slow it would be good for me because I have a really solid kick. If it went out fast, it would be really good for me because I've run a really fast 5k before. So, I had a really good mindset going in."

Fleshman said she'll probably run the 5,000 at USATF Nationals, and may enter the 1,500 at the US Open on June 8.

In a largely tactical women's 800 final, Alice Schmidt made the decisive move at the bell, and held on to win in 2:04.73.

"I wanted to stay with everyone in the first 400 and then really push the third 200," the North Carolina sophomore said. "When we passed the half in 63, I knew we were going really slow, and I had alot of energy still left in me so I just tried to push it as hard as I could."

Florida's Kristina Bratton challenged Schmidt with 200 to go, but faded down the homestretch as Princeton senior Lauren Simmons and California senior Erin Belger passed the field to finish 2-3.

"It was a big surprise," said Schmidt of the winning time. "I thought that the winner would go a lot faster than 2:04. I ran faster in my prelim. I knew I had a 2:04 in me tonight, and that's all it took."

Elsewhere, the capacity crowd witnessed a World Junior Record in the 400 meter hurdles by South Carolina freshman Leshinda Demus. Her time of 54.85 shatterd Leslie Maxey's previous best of 55.20 set in 1984.

The NCAA Championship conclude on Saturday with finals in the men's and women's 1,500, the men's 5,000, and women's steeplechase.