CLAIRE C. LAURENCE/Arizona Daily Wildcat Senior long distance runner Nicole Gurnicz tries to hold onto her lead in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. Gurnicz finished third with a time of 11:38.31.

The Arizona track and field teams split with their instate rivals at the 2004 "Duel in the Desert" Saturday, beating NAU but losing to ASU.

Both the Wildcat men's and women's teams defeated the Lumberjacks by a large margin. The UA men won by a team score of 125-61, while the women overpowered NAU 139-53.

But the Sun Devils proved to be too much for their intrastate foes, edging both the UA men and women 104-96 and 103-95, respectively.

"It's never nice, in my mind, to lose to them in anything - I don't care if it's pick-up sticks," UA head coach Fred Harvey said. "We thought it would come down to the 4 by 400, and it came down to the 4 by 400. If you're going to lose, you have to lay it out on the line again. You don't ever want to be content with ASU in anything."

The three schools meet twice a season - once in an indoor meet and again in an outdoor matchup. The outdoor meet alternates between Tucson - the site of this weekend's event - and Tempe.

Despite the loss to ASU, the Wildcats produced 28 Pacific 10 Conference qualifying performances, 22 NCAA Regional qualifiers and 37 seasonal improvements.

CLAIRE C. LAURENCE/Arizona Daily Wildcat Junior Jessica Corkill placed fourth in the long jump with a distance of 5.63 meters, which put her well under the qualifying mark for both the Pac-10 and NCAA regional meets.

"The reality of what we're doing in our program is being a better NCAA-type team," Harvey said. "The performance level of athletes that we believe will score at NCAA and Pac-10 (Championships) definitely gave us a confidence boost. Specifically, (sophomore) Angel Perkins, given the injuries she's been dealing with all year, (had a) tremendous confidence boost."

Sophomore Robert Cheseret won a trio of events. Though this was his first time competing in the 800 meters this season, Cheseret claimed the title with a regional-qualifying time of 1:49.79. He did the same in the 1,500 meters with a regional-qualifying time of 3:46.83. Cheseret pushed himself to victory in the final 300 meters of the 3,000-meter race, finishing at 8:22.75.

In the same event, UA senior Kyle Goklish was on Cheseret's heels and finished second (8:24.50). Junior Jin Daikoku improved his personal best in the 1,500 meters with a third-place finish (3:51.86).

In the women's distance events, sophomore Amber Steen earned second place in the 1,500 meters at 4:38.90.

Junior Sharifa Jones dominated the women's hurdles competition. In the 100-meter hurdles, Jones won with a time of 13.44 seconds. Jones showed her versatility by placing second in the long jump and bettering her outdoor season's best mark of 19 feet, 9 inches.

Perkins finished second in the 200 and 400, earning NCAA regional-qualifying and season's best times in each event. In the 200, Perkins was clocked at 23.77 seconds, and she finished with a time of 52.36 seconds in the 400.

Fellow sophomore Marquita Taylor tied her seasons best in the 100 at 11.79 seconds, good for second place.

The men's sprinters were equally as impressive. Senior Jevon Mason finished third in the 200 and 400. In the 200, Mason bettered his Pac-10 qualifying time to 21.22 seconds, and in the 400, improved his regional qualifying time to 46.39.

Freshman Daniel Cook claimed the title in the 110-meter hurdles at 14.79. In his first time competing in the 400-meter hurdles, Cook ranked third at 55.94.

The UA 4X100-meter relay crossed the line third with a season-best 41.06 seconds, while the 4X400-meter relay finished second at 3:13.61.

On the field, senior Matt Wagner continued to dominate the javelin competition. Wagner won his event with a distance of 225 feet, 2 inches. Freshman Adam Kuehl had a victory of his own in the discus with a throw of 173 feet, 7 inches, and finished second in the shot put (57 feet, 8 inches).

Junior Mark Ramos finished second in the long jump with a leap of 23 feet, 11 inches. In the same event, senior J.R. Harrison was close behind in third at 23 feet, 9 inches. Harrison was triumphant in the triple jump (52 feet, 1 inch), while freshman Daniel Marshall came in second (48 feet, 9 inches).

Sisters Amber and Rachel Varner continued to stand out in the women's throws competitions. Senior Amber Varner was second in the shot put (47 feet, 1 inch), while sophomore Rachel Varner placed third (44 feet, 10 inches). Rachel won the discus (180 feet, 6 inches), while Amber earned fourth place (148 feet, 2 inches).

In the women's hammer throw, senior Jackilyn Drake had a personal best at 178 feet to finish second. In the javelin, junior Amanda Underwood had a personal best of her own at 122 feet, 7 inches to finish second.

"(The loss) was disappointing," Drake said. "We all went in trying to root out our best performances. (But) even with our best performances, we could not beat them.

"I have a good rapport with the other hammer throwers. It's a fun rivalry that we like to banter back and forth, although a lot of people in Tucson take it seriously."

In the women's pole vault, senior Connie Jerz was victorious with a height of 13 feet, 3 inches. Fellow senior Sheena McKay had a personal-best vault of 12 feet, 1 inch to finish third.

In the men's vault, senior Chris Chappell and sophomore Sam Jacobson finished first and second, respectively. Chappell cleared a height of 16 feet, 10 inches, while Jacobson vaulted to a season-best 16 feet, 4 inches.

The Wildcats host the Pac-10 Championships beginning Friday at Drachman Stadium with the combined events.