June 12, 2008

Live Results

DES MOINES, Iowa - Senior Justin Johnson finished the Decathlon in 13th place with 7,256 points and sophomore Stephanie Ralls advanced to the women's javelin final to highlight day two of the NCAA Outdoor Championships Thursday at Drake Stadium.

Johnson, who was ninth with 3,915 points after day one of the decathlon on Wednesday, 3,341 points on Thursday to post a total of 7,256. Johnson wound up 13th among the best all-around athletes in collegiate track & field.

The senior from Oxnard, Calif., got off to a good start on Thursday as he opened with a fourth place finish in the 110 hurdles in a time of 14.46 to earn 916 points. Then came his toughest three events as he finished 16th in the discus with a throw of 121-10 (37.14), 18th in the pole vault with a height of 13-5.25 (4.10) and 19th in the javelin with a throw of 153-2 (46.70). He earned a combined 1,792 points over the three events. The decathlon closed with the 1,500 meters and Johnson finished 10th in a time of 4:47.59 to earn 633 points.

Ralls, a sophomore from Deer Island, Ore., came up with a lifetime-best throw of 165-5 (50.43) on her second of three attempts on Thursday to finish 10th and advance to the javelin final on Saturday. Ralls came in with a previous best of 160-11 (49.04) which came just two weeks ago at the NCAA West Regional in Northridge.

The rest of the day turned out to be a bit of a disappointment for the Matadors as senior Thomas Ross and sophomore Sherrina Lofton did not make it out the prelims of their respective races and freshmam Reindell Cole came in 10th in the men's long jump final.

Ross, the Big West champion in the 110 hurdles, posted a time of 14.01 on Thursday to finish 21st failing to reach the semifinals as he did in 2007. Ross' time was well off his lifetime-best 13.65 he ran at the Big West Championships in May.

Lofton, the Big West champion in both the 100 and 200 meters, ran 24.04 in the women's 200 meters to finish 24th in her first NCAA Championships appearance.

Cole, the defending NCAA Indoor champion in the long jump, finished a disappointing 10th after posting a best of 25-4 (7.72) on Thursday. Another freshman Ngonidzashe Makusha of Florida State stole the thunder in the final as he jumped an impressive 27-2.75 (8.30) to win the championship.

Action from the NCAA Championships from Drake Stadium continue on Friday as DaShalle Andrews will be in action in the triple jump.

- GO MATADORS -