Anderson surpassed Boyd Gittins’ 1968 time of 49.27 which was the collegiate record of that time as well.
“This is a blessing. I thank God for everything he’s done for me,” Anderson told CBS television commentator Dwight Stones after the race. “I haven’t been able to race against fast people so just being in this race is a blessing. I set my goals high and for my collegiate year I accomplished what I wanted to and that was to be a champion at the NCAA Championships.”
When Cougar hurdles coach and former intermediate hurdles All-American Mark Macdonald was asked if Anderson followed the race plan said, “That was exactly the race plan. Before he went out for the race we talked about what would happen and that was pretty much exactly what happened. Based on where he makes his changes in his race, going from 13 steps to 14, we knew he would fall back a little bit but the plan was to be set up for the 10th hurdle and the finish. With this plan he is all left-leg lead except for hurdle nine and that is where he fell back a little bit. Then he has about 80 meters of all-out sprint with his good lead-leg. You know Jeshua has this weird lean and he’s good at it. It isn’t something we taught him but maybe he learned it back in junior meets. He gets his chest way out there. It obviously served him well tonight.”
Anderson’s 48.69 seconds time is the fifth-best this year by an American man, and the third-best by a collegian, as Georgia’s Justin Gaymon, who finished third at the NCAA final, ran a time of 48.53, and Johnny Dutch of South Carolina has run a time of 48.68. Anderson’s time also surpassed the US Olympic Trials “A” standard. He will return to Pullman with the team late Sunday evening and then rest and mentally prepare for the US Junior Championships June 20-21 in Columbus, Ohio. Stating “there is still room for improvement,” Macdonald said Anderson would watch race tapes and focus on the competition next weekend before thinking about the July Olympic Trials.
Garberg’s hammer throw of 210-feet, 3 inches (64.09m) was a PR and improved her school record and Olympic Trials “B” standard mark set earlier this year. Garberg’s previous hammer PR was 204-9 (62.42m), thrown at the WSU versus Washington Dual Meet May 3 in Pullman, made her the first WSU woman to throw the hammer over 200-feet. At the NCAA final Friday, Garberg had a total of four throws over 200-feet: 210-3, 203-11, 202-5, and 206-11. Her record toss was the first of the six attempts of the day. She missed a fifth-place finish by one inch as Loren Groves of Kansas State threw 210-4.
“After Wednesday’s competition, I felt prepared but I was going in not to just become an All-American. I wanted to really hit my trial mark and make it to that next level,” Garberg said. “Right off the bat I came out shooting bullets and hit my PR and then I really lost my focus after that. Now the girls following me at WSU are really going to have to put some stuff together in order to beat that record; it’s going to stay for a bit.”
Less than 30-minutes later, Garberg was shuttled to the women’s discus competition where she finished fifth with a throw of 174-10 (53.30m). But it wasn’t an easy path to the final. Garberg fouled her first and third throws but advanced with a second toss of 169-6 (51.68m). Her fourth and fifth attempts were unremarkable at 161-8 (49.29m) and 166-7 (50.79m). She pulled it all together for her sixth and final throw, earning her second consecutive top-eight national finish in the discus. She threw a PR distance of 177-3 in the Wednesday qualifying round.
Anna Layman, a redshirt freshman at WSU, battled crosswinds and a strong field Saturday afternoon to finish eighth in the women’s 800m during the final day of the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships held at Drake Stadium. * Sophomore Trent Arrivey (Woodinville, Wash.) cleared seven-feet in the men’s high jump for the ninth time in competition this year but his 7-0 1/4 (2.14m) clearance Friday landed him in ninth place. He opened the competition by clearing the bar at 6-10 3/4 (2.10m) on his second attempt. He cleared 7-0 1/4 on his first attempt but then missed all three at 7-1 1/2 (2.17m). In spite of not scoring in the high jump, Arrivey earned All-America status.
* Senior Jon Jeffreys finished a disappointing 11th in the men’s javelin final with a best throw of 207-3 (63.16m), just missing All-America status. Jeffreys, from Spokane Valley, Wash., fouled his first attempt of the day after heaving a huge throw. His next two throws were 206-11 (63.07m) and his 207-3. His PR of 237-4 (72.35m) was thrown at the WSU versus Washington Dual meet May 3 in Pullman.
* Ebba Jungmark (freshman, Onsala, Sweden) finished tied for ninth in the women’s high jump after clearing 5-9 3/4 (1.77m). She cleared the 5-8 1/2 (1.74m) and 5-9 3/4 (1.77m) bars on her first attempts but missed all three at the next height, 5-10 3/4 (1.80m). Jungmark was the 2008 NCAA Indoor champion with a clearance of 6-2 1/4i (1.89m).
