A meet that had been forecast as a 3-way down-to-the-wire battle was anything but as USC piled up the most points of any team in the last 6 editions. Coach Caryl Smith Gilbert’s squad tallied a whopping 74 to handily outdistance Texas A&M’s 63. LSU, originally expected to be part of that race, had a tough couple days at the office to finish 6th with 28½.
The Trojans began Saturday with 0 points but had 13 events in play. A victory over favored LSU in the 4×1 fired up the team. That was followed by one of the biggest turning points, senior Anna Cockrell taking the 100H crown as LSU’s favored Tonea Marshall was held from the final out of concern for a hamstring twinge she had felt in the relay.
Even with TeeTee Terry not winning, the Trojans still got 10 points in the 100. Three scorers in the 400 helped, and Cockrell came through with a 400H win. With more points in the 200, two scorers in the field events and a runner-up 4×4, the team fulfilled high expectations all around.
“Everybody came into their own today. They all stood up and they never quit and they never complained,” said Smith Gilbert. “This team was deep. The way they showed up and performed showed what we could do.” /Roy Conrad/
NCAA WOMEN’S TEAM SCORES
(8 places scored 10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1)
1. USC 74;
2. Texas A&M 63;
3. Georgia 37½;
4. tie, Alabama & North Carolina A&T 31;
6. LSU 28½;
7. tie, Florida & Texas 28;
9. Arizona State 22;
10. BYU 20;
11. tie, Ohio State, Oregon & Texas Tech 19;
14. Florida State 18;
15. Arkansas 17;
16. tie, Air Force & Virginia 16;
18. South Carolina 15;
19. tie, Miami & Washington 14;
21. tie, Kentucky, North Dakota State & Rice 13; 24. Baylor 12½; 25. Stanford 12; 26. tie, Auburn, Colorado, Iowa & North Carolina State 11; 30. tie, Arizona & California 10; 32. Duke 9; 33. tie, Clemson, Georgia Tech, Notre Dame, Mississippi, Penn State, UCF & Wisconsin 8; 40. tie, Bucknell, Minnesota, North Carolina & UCLA 6; 44. tie, East Carolina & Michigan State 5½; 46. tie, Fresno State, Indiana, Tennessee & Virginia Tech 5; 50. tie, Boise State, Illinois State, Kennesaw State & New Mexico 4; 54. tie, High Point, Kent State, Villanova & West Virginia 3; 58. tie, Binghamton, Furman, Houston & UNLV 2; 62. Kansas 1½ ; 63. tie, Cornell, Richmond, Washington State & Weber State 1.
Competed, but did not score:
Abilene Christian, Bowling Green, Bradley, Butler, Cal State Fullerton, Central Michigan, Charlotte, Cincinnati, Coastal Carolina, Colorado State, Dayton, Eastern Michigan, Eastern Washington, Florida International, George Mason, Georgetown, Grand Canyon, Houston Baptist, Howard, Illinois, Indiana State, Iowa State, Jacksonville, Kansas State, La Salle, Liberty, Louisiana–Lafayette Louisville, Loyola, Memphis, Miami/Ohio, Michigan, Middle Tennessee State, Mississippi State, Missouri, Montana State, Nebraska, Northern Arizona, Northern Illinois, Northwestern Louisiana, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Oregon State, Penn, Prairie View, Princeton, Providence, Purdue, Rhode Island, San Diego State, SMU, South Alabama, South Dakota, South Florida, Southern Illinois, Stephen F. Austin, Syracuse, TCU, Temple, Toledo, Towson, Troy, UCSB, UMass Lowell, USF Utah, UTEP, UT San Antonio, Vanderbilt.