Men's Track and Field's Randall reigns at NCAA Midwest Region Championships
DES MOINES -- Senior NCAA All-American Derek Randall successfully defended his 2006 discus championship on the first day (May 25) of the 2007 NCAA Midwest Region Championship at Drake Stadium in front of a crowd of 3,793. Randall's throw of 197 feet, one inch (60.07m) was 4.5 feet farther than the second-place finisher (Jason Schultz from Colorado State, 192-7), and was more than a foot shy of his season-best throw. He threw the meet winning throw on his first attempt, and consistently threw 57-meters throughout the six-attempt series. "I felt pretty good about (my throw)," said Randall. "I was glad I was able to defend my title, so it feels good. I was kind of worried about my back coming in. My back was sore yesterday but I was able to get some treatment on it and work it out. So all and all, I was satisfied with the day. I'm not happy that my best throw was my first throw. I would have liked to have improved upon that throughout the series. But it was consistent. I've got a few things to work on." The Beeville, Texas native tossed 200-7 to win the 2006 championship. He joins current Longhorn Leo Manzano as the only two-time regional event champion from Texas. Randall's 10 points have Texas in eighth-place after the first day of competition. "I'm real happy for him," said UT head coach Bubba Thornton. "He goes into the national meet with that throw, and will have a good chance to win. He's worked hard and he's very deserving (of the win)." Junior Hamza Deyaf (Richardson, Texas) led the UT's finals qualifiers on day one. He moved on to the 400-meter hurdles finals, after clearing the barriers in 51.28 seconds in the preliminary race. Competing in an event final was senior Owen Washburn (Amherst, Mass.) who finished his Longhorn career with a top 10 finish in the 5000-meter run. The 2006 Brown University graduate who completed his final year of eligibility on the Forty Acres, ran his second fastest time of the year, clocking 14:18.96 and finishing in ninth place. Freshman Will Paine (Houston, Texas) tied for ninth in the pole vault, clearing a lifetime best height of 16-7.25 (5.06m) at his first NCAA Midwest Region Championships. Junior Jacob Hernandez (Magnolia, Texas) ran 1:48.94 in the 800-meter run preliminary race. He finished 10th overall and sixth in his heat. It marks the second fastest time of the season for the first-year Longhorn. Sophomore Trevor Gerland (Katy, Texas) ran 14.19 seconds into a 0.6 wind in the 110-meter hurdles, finishing fourth in his heat and 12th overall. Junior John Rouse (Kaufman, Texas) ended his season with a throw of 182-0 (55.47m) and a 15th-place performance in the hammer throw. 2007 NCAA Midwest Region NCAA Midwest Region scorers 800-meter dash preliminary (NCAA Reg.: 1:50.40) 5000-meter (NCAA Reg.: 14:12) 110-meter hurdles (NCAA Reg.: 14.30) 400-meter hurdles (NCAA Reg.: 52.51) Hammer (NCAA Reg.: 55.60m) Pole vault (NCAA Reg.: 5.05m) Discus (NCAA Reg.: 51.70m)
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