BOISE, Idaho (June 5) — Georgia Tech’s Andria King (Atlanta, Ga.) finished second by two one-hundreths of a second in the 100 meter hurdles and Becky Megesi (Jonesboro, Ga.) was eighth in the 1,500 meters Saturday during the NCAA Championships being held at Boise State’s Bronco Track Complex. Both runners earned all-America honors for finishing in the top eight of their respective events.
King finished in 12.87 seconds, but hit the eighth hurdle after taking an early lead and fell to Miami, Fla.’s Yolanda McCray, who won the NCAA title in 12.85 seconds. King had previously beaten McCray in the Georgia Tech Invitational and in Thursday preliminary heat. It was the fourth national runner-up finish for King, who twice was second in the Indoor 60 hurdles and was second in last year’s 100 hurdles.
“It was extremely frustrating to finish second,” said King, a graduate of Marist School, in her post-race actuary. “I tried to focus on my race and my lane and not anybody else. But I hit the eighth hurdle and that was it. It was an extremely close race but I knew that I didn’t win. I will just go forward and hopefully try to compete on the women’s professional circuit and not look back. This year’s competition was probably the best ever in the NCAA women’s 100 hurldes.”
Following McCray and King was Jill Hayes (UCLA) in 12.89 and Dominque Calloway (Ohio State) in 12.92. King captured NCAA all-America for the fifth time in five championship appearances.
“Being in lane seven, I really didn’t know who was in the lead,” said McCray in her post-race actuary. “The PA Announcer called [Andria] King as the winner, but I looked up at the scoreboard and saw it was me. I didn’t have a great start, but was able to make it up down the stretch.”
Megesi, a junior, won NCAA Outdoor Track all-America honors for the first time in her career after running a 4:28.15 to finish eighth in the 1,500 meters. She has won ACC Outdoor championships in that event each of the last two years. Appalachian State’s Mary Jayne Harrelson won the NCAA title with a time of 4:21.06.
The pair’s top eight finishes gave Tech a total of eight team points.
100 Meter Hurdles Final:1. Yolanda McCray, Miami (Fla.) 12.852. Andria King, Georgia Tech 12.873. Joanna Hayes, UCLA 12.894. Dominque Calloway, Ohio State 12.925. Donica Merriman, Ohio State 12.966. Jenny Adams, Houston 12.987. Ellakisah Williamson, S. Carolina 13.258. Joyce Bates, LSU 13.45
1,500 Meters Final (top 8): 1. Mary Jayne Harrelson, Appalachian St. 4:21.06 2. Grazyna Penc, Southern California 4:22.61 3. Haune Lyngstad, Tulane 4:22.64 4. Susanne Heyer, Penn St. 4:22.99 5. Janet Westphal, Wisconsin 4:24.12 6. Carmen Douma, Villanova 4:24.59 7. Jamie King, E. Kentucky 4:26.87 8. Becky Megesi, Georgia Tech 4:28.15
