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The
start of the mile final, L-R: Erik Schmidt, Jason
Woolhouse, Eric Garner, and Chris Mulvaney.
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Scott
McGowan of Montana set the early pace, with defending
champion Chris Mulvaney of Arkansas...
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...on
the outside. Arkansas was still in the race for the
team title at this point and the crowd was going crazy
for Mulvaney.
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With
600 meters to go, Indiana's Sean Jefferson shot into
the lead and appeared either to be making...
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...a
winning move or a foolish mistake. It turned out to
be the former, as Jefferson only increased his lead
in the...
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...final
600 meters. After finishing second to Nick Willis
in the Big Ten mile, Jefferson won here...
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...in
4:00.16, with plenty of room to spare. BYU's Nate
Robison finished second in 4:01.99...
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...with
Jason Woolhouse of Oklahoma State third (4:02.00)
and McGowan fourth (4:02.07).
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Sherridan
Kirk of Auburn flinched at the start of the 800m and
was charged with a heartbreaking false start.
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Kansas
State's Christian Smith set the pace for much of the
race, with Kent State's Mike Inge running a close
second.
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The
race didn't change much until the final lap, when
the whole field bunched up and...
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...it
was anyone's race. Nate Brannen of Michigan had the
most left. He won his second-straight...
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...title
in 1:47.61. Smith held on for second (1:48.24) and
Moise Joseph claimed third (1:48.24).
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The
start of the 3,000m final, L-R: Steve Sherer, Bret
Schoolmeester, Danny Wolf, Don Sage, and Chris Solinsky.
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No
one appeared to want the early lead, but Stanford's
Chris Emme ended up with it. The men went through
the 800 slower than...
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...Kim
Smith in the women's 3,000. Just before the 1K mark,
Alistair Cragg sprinted to the lead...
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...and
Michigan's Nick Willis and Stanford's Don Sage immediately
covered the move.
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Simon
Bairu was one of three Wisconsin runners in the race.
He finished eighth in 8:06.80.
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Cragg
and Willis dropped Sage and it became a two-man race
with no one else in sight.
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Cragg
knew that he couldn't let Willis - who probably has
the most raw speed of any distance runner in the NCAA
- just sit on a slow pace and kick.
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After
missing cross country season with an injury, Matt
Tegenkamp made a great comeback here to finish third
(8:02.82).
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Cragg
- and most of the audience - kept waiting for Willis
to kick by at the end, but Cragg had successfully
neutralized Willis' kick.
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Cragg
won in 7:55.29, Willis was second in 7:56.44 and wore
a facial expression similar to Adrian
Blincoe's when he lost to Cragg in '03.
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Cragg
did a victory lap before the adoring Arkansas fans.
This was Cragg's sixth NCAA title, and he's won five
of them in Fayetteville.
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